Jeju United FC 2- 4 FC Seoul: A Quick Recap

In my preview and prediction, I predicted doom and gloom for FC Seoul on their travels down to Jeju United FC.  Again, as always, I was wrong.  Not only did they come out winners, but they scored four goals as well.  I am going to link the video rather than describe it.  Instead, I will put in some general comments, particularly about the line-up since Choi Soo-yong chose to change it so much.


Line-up

This was my predicted starting line-up.

Here is the starting line-up.

Obviously, I got the shape wrong.  Instead of a 3-5-2, Choi Soo-yong went with a 4-3-3.  He left Kim Chi-woo, Park Yong-woo, Koh Myong-jin, and Yun Ju-tae on the bench.  Cha Du-ri was not even one of the substitutes.  Is Cha injured?  He hasn't played in weeks, but he was one of the subs for the Super Match, so I am not sure what is going on.  Maybe Choi is saving him for Sunday against Gwangju.

Players who had not had a sniff of first team action in quite some time were given starts instead.  Everton, Molina, and Lee Sang-hyeob have made appearances, but they have only seen action as subs recently.  It is the fact that Yun Il-lok started that surprised me.  He has been, to put it kindly, somewhat abysmal this season.

Shim Sang-min was given a start at fullback as well.  Before this game, I did not know who he really was, since I cannot remember seeing him play in a league game.

The Game

Here is a link to the game.  You should watch the highlights, it was a pretty entertaining contest.  If you click on it and go to Youtube, you can watch it on the SPOTV channel.  

I think it has been the best game that Seoul has played this year.  Everton's goal was fantastic.  What a ball from new kid Shim Sang-min!  Should Jeju's defender Yang Ju-na clear it?  Probably, but he missed and Everton's diving header reminded me of Robin Van Persie's one against Spain last World Cup.

I thought Jeju's goal was pretty good.  This time, Shim Sang- min was taken to school by Kim Sang-won on the dribble.  It was great ball over the top by Kim Soo-beom (I think it was him) and Kim Yong-dae wasn't out fast enough to prevent a good cross for Kim Hyun to tap in.  My only complaint is that yet again, Seoul was caught out from a ball over the top.  It was a magnificent ball, but still, how often does this happen every game?  

I think Park Chu-young's goal was a bit lucky.  Everton put it on target, only for it to hit the post, but it is good to see Park get on the score sheet.  I think that is four goals now.  If he breaks double figures, I would say that is a decent debut season for him.

In my preview, I mentioned about set pieces and how Jeju's defense and their keeper Kim Ho-jun were susceptible to them.  I don't want to bang my own drum, but Seoul scored from two last night.  Therefore, even though I got the score and the line-up wrong, at least I was right about one thing.

(From Facebook (FC Seoul))

Conclusion

Outside of the epic, last minute victory against Kashima Antlers and road wins in Jeonbuk and Daejeon, there is not been much to smile about this year.  So when something like this happens, I will just sit back and enjoy it.  Seoul was great last night.  They created 14 clear cut scoring chances.  I cannot remember the last time that Seoul has done that offensively.

Obviously, Seoul plays best when they score early.  Rather than having to chase the game late, they could sit back and try to hit Jeju on the counter.  Even with the score tied at one all, Seoul was still going for it.  It is nice to Choi give Park Chu-young and Molina a chance to play together.  Also, Everton had a great game and deserved his M.O.M. award.

Finally, the only downside to the game was that Yun Il-lok did not score.  That is the best I have seen him play in all season. He looked really up for it.  The cynic in me wonders if it has anything to do with the transfer window opening.  However, I am going to say that a spell of rest on the bench was the reason why.  Hopefully, he can fire on for the rest of the season from this performance.