Tuesday 6 March 2012

Gyeongnam 3 - 0 Daejeon Citizen

by Liam Birch at Changwon Soccer Center

The atrocious weather provided an apt backdrop for a dismal start to the 2012 K-League for Daejeon Citizen, who were easily swept aside by a Gyeongnam team barely reaching second gear.

If the pre-season transfer activity had raised hopes of a successful season, the Choi Eun-Sung saga has created a huge chasm between the management and fans that this performance will have done little to overcome. Citizen fans, around 50 in number, erected banners calling for the resignation of the board and stood in silence for the entire 90 minutes, creating an eerie atmosphere befitting of the conditions that the game was taking place under.

The starting line-up was virtually unrecognisable from the one that started last season, and the lack of unity and understanding was clearly on display. Yoo Sang-Chul elected to play a 4-5-1 formation, with Kevin Oris operating as the lone man up front. If the plan was to contain the Gyeongnam midfield, it didn't work. The warning signs appeared from the very beginning, as Gyeongnam's midfield dictated the play. They seemed hungrier and more determined, in contrast to their pedestrian-like, lethargic Daejeon counterparts.

New goalkeeper Kim Sun-Kyu, playing his first game against the club from which he was signed, showed good early promise with a couple of excellent saves from Gyeongnam danger man Jordan. Kevin Oris meanwhile was showing decent strength in attack, consistently winning headers and flick-ons. Unfortunately the Daejeon midfield did not seem eager to venture forward and the aerial threat was all but nullified.

Despite Gyeongnam's early domination, it was Daejeon who actually had the ball in the net first, only for the referee to disallow Oris' strike for a previous infringement on the Gyeongnam goalkeeper. If supporters thought that this was a positive sign of things to come, they were wrong. Barely 20 seconds after the re-start, Gyeongnam went ahead. With Daejeon still reeling from the disallowed goal, Gyeongnam went straight up the other end and scored. In fairness to the Citizen defenders, it was a classy build up and cool finish from Yoon Il-Rok, but had the defenders not been sleeping, it would have been almost certainly preventable.

Daejeon held on for the rest of the first half and even came close to an equaliser, when Kevin Oris struck a free kick from all of 25 yards, only to see his effort saved by veteran keeper Kim Byung-Ji. Much has been expected of Oris this season after his incredible goalscoring record in Belgium, and he certainly looked dangerous in the opening period, despite receiving nothing from the referee.

Half time was met with a decent amount of optimism. Whilst being thoroughly outplayed, Citizen found themselves only a single goal behind. With a change of tactics and someone to support Oris in attack, the game still had the potential to be won. Unfortunately, the changes that seemed obvious were not implemented by Yoo, and Daejeon began the second half in much the same way that they ended the first. Kim Sun-Kyu was a busy man in the Citizen goal but his handling looked assured and he was playing with a confidence that belied the huge pressure that he must have been under.

With little in the way of tactical or personnel changes, the inevitable second Gyeongnam goal was scored on 69 minutes, and a what a beauty it was. Gyeongnam's new Brazilian signing Caique, who had been threatening throughout, was allowed too much time and space to run in the Daejeon half. As the defenders backed off, the Brazilian unleashed a perfectly placed long-range grass cutter which nestled in the bottom left hand corner of Kim's goal.

At that point the game was effectively over as a contest, but Gyeongnam added another just two minutes later to make sure of the points. Daejeon's much maligned defender Lee Ho (of 55 and 77 infamy, and now captain of the side), unbelievably gave the ball away deep in Daejeon territory, allowing Kim In-Han the simplest finish to completely kill the game.

Daejeon responded by introducing new Brazilian recruit Leo, but he looked completely off the pace and added nothing to a Daejeon midfield now being overrun at will.

In truth, had Gyeongnam really gone for it, this could have been a similar outcome to the 7-1 drubbing handed out last year. Fortunately for Citizen, they were spared that humiliation, but still left Changwon with little credit after a depressingly poor performance, failing to register a single effort on goal in the second half.

Daejeon fans must expect a long, tough season if this performance was any indicator. With relegation rivals Daegu and Gangwon both making positive starts to their campaigns, analysts are already picking Daejeon as the team most likely to get relegated. After a display like this, it's hard to argue against them.

No comments:

Post a Comment