by Liam Birch at Suwon World Cup Stadium.
Daejeon Citizen produced a stubborn display in rain soaked Suwon on Saturday evening but were unable to prevent the reigning K-League champions from taking all three points.
Despite having the lions share of possession, and limiting Suwon to few opportunities, Daejeon were unable to break down a resolute Suwon defence. In truth, Citizen, without the creativity of Ko Chang Hyeon and long-term absentee Valber, never really looked likely to draw level after falling behind early on.
Daejeon started brightly, buoyed on by a large away following for what is traditionally the biggest derby game of the year. The cheers soon turned to groans of despair however, as Suwon took an early lead.
As Daejeon piled forward, a misplaced pass allowed Suwon to launch a superb flowing attack that left the Citizen defence in disarray. Daejeon barely knew what was happening as Suwon quickly sprayed the ball from right to left before firing a deflected shot past Choi Eun Song and into the net. It was a huge blow, coming after only eleven minutes, but Daejeon showed resilience to come back into the game.
Daejeon, attacking almost exclusively down the left hand side, rarely seriously threatened however. Surprise inclusion Kwon Jib fired a volley harmlessly over the bar following a Daejeon corner before the same player, again from a corner, almost got Daejeon level. A tame defensive header fell to Kwon Jib on the edge of the area. His half volley seemed destined for the top corner, but agonisingly drifted just inches over the bar.
Much maligned striker Park Sung Ho was toiling away as the lone striker, and he will think that he should have equalized. A deep ball from Woo Sung Je confused the Suwon defence and left Park alone in the area. His glancing header looped over the Suwon keeper and unfortunately for Daejeon, over the bar.
It would be more of the same in the second half, with Daejeon keeper Choi having very little to do.
As the rain poured down, Daejeon reasserted their dominance from the first half. New signing Stevan Racic was introduced around the hour mark and he immediately started making a nuisance of himself around the Suwon defence. He first won a freekick around the edge of the area that was crying out for Ko Chang Hyeon. Unfortunately, in his absence, the effort was hit tamely at the grateful Suwon keeper.
Tame would most definitely not be the word to describe Racic's thunderous free kick that followed. Lee Je Kyu won a free kick on the edge of the area, before Racic hit a powerful strike that the Suwon keeper could only deflect away. If Daejeon attackers had only anticipated the spill, they could have equalized. Unfortunately, no one reacted and Suwon cleared easily away.
Overall, it was a good performance from Daejeon, and had the missing players been included, it could well have been a different story. Daejeon will feel confident that they can get back to winning ways against out of form Gyeongnam in Daejeon next Sunday.
MOTM: Woo Sung Je
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