K League Unfortunate Tribute to Hans Moleman
Rainy Gyeongin Derby, Raining Projectiles, and Thankfully Raining Goals -Round 12 had it all, 25 goals with a number of late ones securing draws, VAR controversies, crowd trouble & 2 red cards to boot
Controversial Gyeongin Derby End
At the end of the Incheon United vs FC Seoul derby game, which had been feisty on the pitch, Paek Jong-beom in the FC Seoul celebrated the derby win with a few fist pumps in front of the main Incheon supporter stand, which was behind his goal. The crowd, rather than giving the expected two finger salute, started launching projectiles onto the pitch at the players. One such projectile hit the FC Seoul captain Ki Sung-yeung, who was trying to calm the crowd, in the nether regions causing a great deal of pain. Homer Simpson would be laughing his head off, but in the football stadium the actions were deplorable. Incheon’s staff and players, including a very displeased looking Jonic, acted quickly but the projectiles did not stop for a period of around 30 seconds.
For context, the K League rarely has any form of crowd trouble and goalkeepers for away teams almost always have a good relationship with the opposing home fans, which is quite unique in football. When they jog into position there is always a bow and applaud; the same goes when they leave the pitch. Sure keepers do as they do when ahead, taking longer for goal kicks, etc., but this is very much a fabric of football and in the K League leads to booing but not much else. It must be noted that Incheon United this season have already been accused of unnecessary goading of the opposition keeper. In their away game at Gwangju FC, one individual in the away end was caught on video harranguing Kim Kyung-min following his sending off for handball outside the box; this despite the Gwangju goalkeeper holding his hands above his head in apology. It was also well-known that Kim Kyung-min suffered a family tragedy last season, and to be on the end of abuse like that was very distasteful, but on this case seemingly just from a deluded individual. This incident was very un-K League like.
Coming back to Saturday’s incident, which was not just the individual in the Incheon stand. Post-match 23 year-old Paek Jong-beom was quick to apologise for his celebrations on the pitch, to Incheon players and in an interview after. He did cite his reasoning for the reaction being the abuse that he was getting from the stands, including some unsavoury comments about his parents. In my opinion, I enjoyed Paek celebrating a derby win like this, it’s the essence of football and you can argue about the extent of it, as an Arsenal I will never forget nor forgive the Adebayor incident, but still it’s part of football and it’s okay to get mad at the opposition players. So, I don’t mind fans abusing goalkeepers from the stands as it’s usually pantomime stuff as it creates the atmosphere that has been gradually improving in K League since the dark days of Covid and even post-Covid when there was no cheering, as long as it doesn’t overstep the mark, which comments about family members certainly do and when it’s totally unnecessary like the Gwangju incident. The projectiles aren’t that big of a deal, in fact it’s not the first time we’ve seen them in Korea, in the decisive 2014 World Cup Qualifier held in Ulsan between Korea and Iran, the 1-0 Iran win saw their celebrations greeted with a hurl of projectiles. However, the fact that in this instance they struck a player causing some pain and threatened the safety of not just the FC Seoul players but also staff and the Incheon players is clearly the problem here. The club CEO has issued an apology and pledged to prevent further incidents; the club has pledged to find the individual who threw that specific water bottle and the league are gathering evidence to announce a punishment in due course. Incheon are facing at least a fine, but in Korea there’s a tendency to overreact in these incidents and a partial stadium closure could be the outcome. We also might see some more tedious unnecessary policy changes at stadiums, like a ban of alcohol, no plastic bottles or even netting behind the goal.
Hopefully, penalties are minimal and we can all get back to football. It’s a shame how the game ended because the 14,000+ at Incheon was the second highest of the season, and this time in the pouring rain, the performance from the home team was also commendable with the 10 man display in the 2nd half deserving of a point. Finally, this derby has replaced the Super Match, FC Seoul and Suwon Bluewings in prominence following the latter’s relegation in 2023, and the league needs games like this to succeed, so hopefully we all move on quickly and look forward to next Gyeongin derby at the end of July at Incheon.
Match of the Round
Daegu FC 3-2 Gwangju FC
Ding-dong battle is the best way to describe this one, although Gwangju’s manager Lee Jong-hyo’s “I’m so sick of this shit” post-match response is pretty good too. 3 goals in the opening 10 minutes and followed by a Cesinha inspired comeback for Daegu’s first win under their new manager Park Chang-hyun and first home win of the season. Gwangju FC are yet to draw this season and the way they are conceding late and soon after scoring on repeat is worrying, which led the manager to make those comments.
MOM Cesinha
Gwangju FC have Ulsan HD in the GW8 catchup game this Wednesday. Daegu FC face FC Seoul away from home on Sunday.
Goal of the Round
Right back Kim Tae-hyun’s last-minute spectacular 20 yard curler to snatch a deserved draw at Champions Ulsan HD for army side Gimcheon Sangmu.
Player of the Round
Cesinha - Daegu FC - two assists and the late penalty winner to give his adopted home town their first home win of the season
Other Games
Jeonbuk 2-3 Suwon FC
Jeonbuk slipped to the bottom of the table after throwing away a 2-goal lead for the second home game running. Last time they were pegged back to a draw but this time Suwon FC used their man advantage in the 2nd half to take all 3 points with Lee Seung-woo the man to do the damage. Post-match Lee, who has been used primarily as a 2nd half sub this despite his form and the fact Suwon remain the only team to not score in a first half, spoke about his disappointment in only starting 2nd halves. His link up with Anderson and Ji Dong-won was excellent, with the former grabbing his first K League goal, even though the league wrongly took the goal off him after the game. Jeonbuk are a disaster, Nana Boateng getting his 2nd sending off against Suwon FC this season, harsh in my opinion, they got an undeserved penalty for a dive, and remain managerless. The caretaker in recent post-match interviews has been pleading for a new manager, while fans seem disillusioned with the happenings at the club
MOM Lee Second-half woo- I’ve renamed Seung-woo as his 45 minutes continues to spoil us watching. Surely he starts with excellent link up with Anderson and Ji Dong-won
Jeonbuk are away to Gwangju next while Suwon Fc take on league leaders Pohang Steelers at home
Ulsan 2-2 Gimcheon Sangmu
Close to being the game of the week with both teams playing attacking football during the game and creating a number of chances. Gimcheon twice came from behind to secure the point, which was much deserved after Ludwigson’s early goal and Kim Young-gwon’s penalty concession and then make-up header were cancelled out with a superb GOAL of the ROUND. Ulsan HD performances have been mixed since losing key player Lee Dong-gyeong to the military team.
MOM Kang Hyun-muk - won the penalty and was involved in lots of good things around the Ulsan penalty box.
Ulsan HD have the away catch-up game vs Gwangju on Wednesday. Gimcheon have a home game against Jeju United on Saturday.
Incheon United 1-2 FC Seoul
The action on the pitch that noone is talking about. Gerso’s first half red card heavily influenced the outcome of the game with the home side unfortunate not to get a point even with the man down. The red card in question was a result of a tangle between Choi Jun and Gerso’s reaction to it. The wide angle of the incident isn’t that clear and even the day after Gerso has denied any serious foul play with the ref choosing not to go to the VAR despite not seeing the incident is strange. Willyan’s introduction at half-time was decisive with two quick-fire goals to give FC Seoul the win, though they were hanging on.
MOM Willyan - two goals soon after his half-time introduction flipped the game on it’s head with FC Seoul somewhat lacking after taking the lead
FC Seoul face Daegu FC at home next. Incheon are away at Daejeon.
Gangwon 3-3 Daejeon Hana Citizen
Another back and forth battle that was the theme of the weekend. Daejeon raced into a 2 goal lead with young guns Lee Jun-gyu and on debut Jung Kang-min getting the goals. Gangwon then scored 3 without reply before a late soft penalty for Daejeon saw the game end a draw. Despite the spirited performance Daejeon fans put up a banner at the end of the game thanking the manager for his service but wanting him to go. Harsh from the fans with head coach Lee Min-sung dealing with an injury crisis and steering the team back to the K1 and many years in the wilderness in K2.
MOM Yago - Goal and assist in Gangwon’s comeback from 2-0 down
Daejeon are at home vs Incheon next while Gangwon are at home to Ulsan HD.
Pohang 1-1 Jeju United
Pohang let a number of chances go begging and conceded a late goal from Italo to only take a point, and in doing so are prevented from extending their lead at the top of the table. U22 player Hong Yun-sang grabbed his first goal of the season as Pohang threatened to run wild opening up Jeju a number of times in the game. Both goalkeepers were standouts as Jeju rallied and really pushed the home team in the latter stages.
Pohang are away at Suwon FC next while Jeju United are away at Gimcheon.
MOM Hwang In-jae/Kim Dong-jun - both gks responsible for this game being the lowest scoring game of the round