Report: Dominant Daejeon Pegged Back at the Last

Daejeon Citizen 1 - 1 Incheon Utd
by Liam Birch at Daejeon World Cup Stadium

Daejeon began life after Kim Ho with an impressive performance against high-flying Incheon at the Purple Arena on Saturday. After a week of turmoil, Citizen produced one of their best displays of the season and were unfortunate to be denied a deserved victory.

After losing both their head coach and club chairman during the week, one might have expected a disjointed performance from Citizen. However, what followed was an excellent display that but for wasteful finishing and poor officiating, should have resulted in victory.

Daejeon started brightly from the off and were denied a clear penalty in the 14th minute. The excellent Ko Chang Hyeon dribbled his way into the area, only to be tripped by the Incheon defender. Amazingly, both the referee and his assistant failed to notice the infringement and play resumed. Just 3 minutes later, Daejeon had another penalty claim turned down that although not as clear cut as the first, was still a poor decision.

An unbelievable miss followed and it's one that Brazilian Valber won't want to see again in a hurry. An excellent cross from the left found Valber unmarked, 6 yards out and no goalkeeper in sight. Somehow, he headed the ball down onto the ground and over the bar. It was quite shocking and completely out of character from one of Daejeon's most gifted players.

Daejeon were the clearly dominant team and Incheon did little to trouble Choi Eun-Song, making his 410th appearance in the Daejeon goal. Even Park Sung-Ho was having a decent game in attack, holding up the ball well and linking up with the wingers. For all their possession however, Citizen created few real chances and it was no surprise to see a goalless first half.

Whatever the Incheon boss said at half time clearly worked as Utd came out flying. Playing with much more purpose, they still failed to trouble Choi in the Daejeon goal, though their possession play was frustrating Daejeon. More worrying was the injury that forced play maker Valber to withdraw around the hour mark. Initial reports are that the injury isn't as bad as first feared, however the player will have a scan this week and is expected to miss at least 2 weeks.

With the game headed for a 0-0 draw, Ko Chang Hyeon provided another piece of magic to send the home crowd into raptures. Winning a free kick 30 yards out, Ko Chang-Hyeon fired a pin-perfect effort into the top right of the Incheon keeper's goal, giving him no chance. It was another superlative free kick from Ko, who simply must be knocking on the door of the national team with another outstanding performance.

With Daejeon seemingly in control, disaster struck in the 89th minute. A routine high ball caused panic in the Daejeon defence. Hwang Ji-Yoon, who was having a solid game, attempted a suicidal head back to the keeper which was duly intercepted by the Incheon striker who collided with Choi before watching the ball roll into the empty net. Confusion reigned as the referee and assistant seemed to debate whether the goal would stand, although unfortunately for Daejeon, it did.

A game in which Citizen showed such promise was unfortunately ended with a feeling of disappointment. Daejeon can most certainly take pride in the way that they played and will know that they should have taken all three points. An FA Cup tie against minnows Gyeonghee University should put Daejeon back on winning ways however. They must now also focus on attracting a new coach, which could take a while considering their meagre resources and poor position in the K-League.