by Liam Birch at Daejeon World Cup Stadium
Daejeon Citizen scored a dramatic late goal to register their first victory over Ulsan for five years on Saturday.
In a game where Daejeon created few clear cut chances, it took a moment of skill from defender Hwang Ji-Yoon from an 87th minute corner to take all three points. Ulsan, themselves having a sub-par season, will feel that they did at least enough to come away with a point from the Purple Arena, and perhaps should have, given the chances they created.
Daejeon had veteran goalkeeper Choi Eun Song to thank for a string excellent saves which highlighted that at the age of 38, he is still one of the most important players in the squad. He was first called into action midway in the first half where an Ulsan through ball left the striker in a one-on-one situation, which Choi did excellently to save with his trailing leg.
Daejeon were mostly restricted to long-range efforts, first from the returning Valber, whose grass-cutting effort was easily saved by the Ulsan keeper, a man who has a lot of previous history with the Citizen fans following his antics in the 2007 playoff game.
Woo Sung-Je, ever lively in attack almost tested the Ulsan keeper towards the end of the half. Cutting inside from the right, his attempted curler into the top right hand corner sailed just over the bar. The fact that this attempt was one of the highlights of the half is testament to the lack of chances created by either side in the first period.
The second half was more of the same, with Ulsan definitely looking the more threatening. Park Sung-Ho toiled away up front, but with just five goals to his name this season, he was never in danger of adding to that tally.
Ulsan however, looked a far more dangerous prospect with former Daejeon man Kim Young-Tae causing problems down the right. It was his cross that almost resulted in a goal. Fortunately for Daejeon, the resulting header looped over the bar.
Daejeon needed to change things around and the introduction of Racic provided just that. It was Racic that won a free kick on the edge of the area after being jumped over by the Ulsan defender. Racic picked himself up before firing a thunderous drive that deflected off the wall and out for a Daejeon corner.
From the resulting corner, Hwang Ji-Yoon put Daejeon ahead. The low corner didn't look like beating the far post until Hwang volleyed home on 87 minutes.
There was still time for Ulsan to almost equalize twice however. First, a header back across Choi's goal was excellently stopped by the keeper. As Ulsan launched a final assault, panic ensued in the area until the ball ran to the Ulsan striker who found himself through on goal. Fortunately for Citizen, Choi dived at his feet to smother the ball in injury time to ensure Daejeon picked up their fourth win of the season.
MOTM: Choi Eun-Song
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