by Liam Birch at Seongnam Moran Stadium
Daejeon Citizen produced an assured display to register an impressive win over multi-time K-League champions Seongnam on Sunday.
The game, played on the same day as the funeral for former president Kim Dae-Jung, had a largely subdued atmosphere, enhanced by both sets of fans agreeing to not cheer during the first half. The atmosphere seemed to translate on to the pitch, with very few notable efforts from either side. Daejeon, coming off the back of victory over Ulsan, looked comfortable with anything the Seongnam attack threw at them. Seongnam looked sloppy from open play, and rarely threatened from set pieces, particularly against a strong and confident Daejeon defence which dealt with corners and free kicks with ease.
The crowd were awoken from their slumber when on 37 minutes, Kim Han Seob was fed in by a delightful through ball and calmly side footed past the Seongnam keeper. It was no more than Daejeon deserved after a composed first 45 minutes.
As the second half began, and the noise level was raised from the fans, so too the pace of the game quickened. Daejeon again looked dangerous on the break with Seongnam seemingly happy to play the long ball game. The key moment came just before the hour mark when Daejeon won a free kick in a dangerous area. All eyes turned to the sidelines as Ko Chang-Hyeon made his long awaited return from injury. With his first touch of the game, he curled a superb free kick over the Seongnam wall and into the net for his 9th goal of the season. Citizen fans are quickly running out of superlatives to describe this man's free kicks.
Just as things looked comfortable for Citizen, true to form, they conceded just three minutes later from a looping header by Seongnam's Cho. Far from the onslaught expected however, Daejeon regained composure to see out the game and register back to back victories. Much credit must be given to manager Wang Seon Jae who has turned Daejeon from basement boys to real challengers for the playoffs.
Daejeon will look to make it three wins in three at home against Jeonbuk next Sunday.
MOM: Valber
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