by Liam Birch at Daejeon World Cup Stadium
Daejeon Citizen won comfortably over a poor Daegu side on a sunny afternoon at the Purple Arena. This was an important win that catapulted Daejeon from the foot of their Peace Cup group to within touching distance of qualification. A win in the final fixture against Seongnam will see Daejeon through to the second round.
Things got off to a bright start for both sides with the game constantly shifting back and forth. Daejeon twice went close in the early going, with Ko Chang-Hyeon firing twice into the side netting from an unfavourable angle. Babel was deployed in a more attacking role and revelled in the added freedom. His link up play between the midfield and attack was causing Daegu problems.
Both Babel and Ko Chang-Hyeon were instrumental in the first goal. It was the Brazilian who found Ko on the right, who's cross was blocked by the Daegu defender to concede the corner. Ko's corner was initially blocked by the Daegu defence before ricocheting in off Chi Chi. It was the Brazilian forward's first goal for Daejeon, albeit in rather fortunate circumstances.
Whilst Daejeon led, Daegu were still looking mildly threatening on the counter. In particular the pace and skill of Emile Mbamba, Daegu's new Cameroonian import were causing problems. Indeed Mbamba saw a curling effort from outside the area strike the bottom right side of Choi Eun-Song's goal.
However, Daegu's hopes for a comeback were all but gone after a rash challenge resulted in a red card for the Daegu defender. It was a rash challenge and he can have no complaints about the referee's decision.
Daejeon goalscorer Chi Chi then went down under another heavy challenge. The Daegu player escaped punishment but Chi Chi was unable to continue and was to be replaced by Park Sung-Ho. The striker was dropped to the bench for this game but he staked his claim for a starting place soon after.
Park found himself in the box at a tight angle with a defender on his shoulder. He somehow turned and hit a beautifully placed shot that rolled over the line after striking the post on the left. His celebration was interesting to say the least, as he pretended to fire on the Daejeon fans. Perhaps this was a message to those (myself included) who had given him so much stick last year.
From then on out Citizen easily saw out the rest of the game. This was by no means an impressive performance, but Daejeon did what they had to do. The midfield in particular looked much stronger than of late. Regardless, they now find themselves with their fate in their own hands against Seongnam next time out.
MOTM: Lee Gyeong Hwan
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