Daejeon Citizen 1-0 Gwangju FC Recap
Seemingly, for Daejeon Citizen, victories are like buses -
none and then two come at once.
Following their first win of the season on Sunday,
impressively displacing high-flying Suwon Samsung Bluewings, Daejeon notched
their second win of the campaign in matter of days.
Attentions turned from the bread and butter of the league
and to the FA Cup with visit of Gwangju, a side who had already comfortably
beaten Daejeon back in March.
Photo credit: DCFC.co.kr
Daejeon had chosen to rest several of their key players and
had fielded, largely, a new eleven from that that beat Suwon at the weekend.
And, despite the game getting off to a slow start, it didn’t
seem to matter as Daejeon booked their place in the 5th round with a
1-0 win over Gwangju.
There wasn’t much between the two sides in the opening 45
with neither team showing any real cutting edge.
Gilberto threatened for Gwangju with his power and pace,
managing to get in behind but was snuffed out by Citizen’s backline with
relative ease.
Daejeon tried to get a rhythm going, passing the ball around
with great intent but were unable to find that killer pass.
But, almost as soon as the Purples began to threaten they
were reduced to ten men when Hwang In-Beom was dismissed for a reckless
challenge.
Despite his pleas of innocence, the Daejeon number 13 was
sent for an early shower and his team mates were facing an uphill struggle,
with over an hour still left to play
The second half started off slowly with neither team looking
all that willing to take the game by the scuff of the neck.
Opting for pacey front men with the likes of Adriano on
their books, Daejeon’s counter attacking game has been key to any fortune they
have had, last season’s K League Challenge title being the prime example.
It was with his counter attack that Daejeon took the lead.
Doing what they do best, Daejeon hit Gwangju on the break and
found themselves a goal to the good.
Kim Young-Seung, a player who has found first team
opportunities limited at Purple Arena, got beyond the front two to place a shot
in the bottom right corner from the edge of the box.
Just when it appeared that the Daejeon number 15 had walked into
a dead end, opting to usher the ball onto his right foot, the twenty two year
old picked his spot and expertly converted much to the delight to the hundreds
in attendance.
The goal seemed to shake Gwangju into life and the match
became heated with a few spirited challenges overseen, and later dealt with, by
the referee.
None more so than when Gwangju’s Park Sun-Hong was adjudged
to have been a touch overzealous with his challenge on Citizen goalkeeper Oh
Seung-Hoon.
In the first half, Oh Seung-Hoon earned himself a yellow
card for vociferously appealing for a free-kick.
This appeared to be on the referee’s mind who immediately
reached for his red card and the numbers were, once again, even.
But, the score was not and Gwangju began to throw everything
they had at Daejeon.
The introduction of Fabio seemed to add an extra dimension
to Gwangju’s attack but, still, Daejeon defended intently and were able to keep
the fellow newly-promoted side at bay.
A flurry of late corners saw Gwangju goalkeeper Je Jong-Hyun
try his hand at playing striker but each set piece was snuffed out by Citizen
who were able to hold on to advance into the fifth round.
Two wins on the spin and with the visit of struggling
Incheon United at the weekend, things just might be starting to fall into place
for Citizen.
Final Whistle and post match celebrations:
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