Recap: Daejeon Citizen 0-1 Busan IPark

An error prone and wasteful 10-man Daejeon Citizen fell to their third defeat of the K League 2 season after a mistake by debutant Ahn Jaejun gifted Busan IPark's Lee Dongjun with what proved to be the winner early into the first half at Purple Arena.
(Image via Joongdo)

At a somewhat depleted and, frankly eerily muted Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon Citizen failed to build on last weekend's victory Seoul E-Land by falling to their third defeat in four games, losing 1-0 against promotion hopefuls Busan IPark.

An error from central defender Ahn Jaejun, signed from Seongnam over the winter, gifted the ball to Lee Dongjun, after failing to control the ball whilst intercepting, played in the ever-alert Lee Dongjun whose first-time strike found the back of the net with just 10 minutes on the clock.

This wouldn't be the first time that Lee Dongjun got the better of Kim Jinyoung either as, to make things even worse for Citizen, and with just 10 minutes of the first half remaining, custodian Kim Jinyoung was dismissed following a collision with Lee Dongjun,

Before a ball was even kicked however, eyebrows will have been raised the team selection from both managers, most certainly for Daejeon's Ko Jongsoo.

Whilst there was at least one forced changed to be made, the injured Baek Jonghwan making way for Kim Yesong to make his first start in professional football at right back, still there were several changes to the win over E-Land that left the Purple Arena faithful scratching their heads.

There was no place in the squad for Filip Hlohovsky, perhaps an unreported injury could explain his absence as the former Seongnam winger had a decent game last time out, whilst vice-captain Ahn Sanghyun was also conspicuous by his absence in Daejeon's midfield.

Target man Park Inhyeok was shifted to the right side of a five-man midfield with Kim Chanhee, making his first start of the season, playing as the lone man, preferred over last week's match winner Pedro.

Uzbek international midfielder Gudeov was also given his first start after impressing as a substitute during the 1-0 win over Seoul E-Land, winning the penalty which Pedro subsequently slotted away in the second half. Elsewhere, there was also a professional debut for Park Sooil, the 22-year-old donning the number 66 shirt for the Purples.

Ko Jongsoo tweaked the shape of his team, opting for a 5-4-1 perhaps in an attempt utilise the space on the flanks against Busan's narrow 3-4-1-2 and also to crowd the midfield and stop the likes of Romulo from dictating the tempo, as well as and to look to hit Busan on the counter attack as well, limiting the amount of space for Lee Dongjun to run into.

Busan IPark shifted to a 3-4-1-2 with Romulo in the number 10 role behind fellow Brazilian Alemao and the lightening quick Lee Dongjun up front, last week's match winner Kim Jingyu had to make do with a place amongst the substitutes.

Despite a positive start to the game, Coach Ko was left tearing his notes up as early as the 10th minute, however, as his side gifted the visitors a goal.

An attempted through ball from Romulo looked as though it was going to be dealt with comfortably by Citizen defender Ahn Jaejun. However, the central defender making his Citizen debut couldn't connect with his left foot to cushion the ball and intercept and instead the ball fizzed off behind and into the path of Busan's livewire forward Lee Dongjun.

Lee Dongjun, 12 yards out, still had work to do however, but his first time finish found the bottom corner and the visitors had an early lead - goalkeeper Kim Jinyoung perhaps ought to have done better.

Ahn Jaejun almost made amends for his error, going close to bringing his side back on level terms but his thumping header hit the crossbar after the debutant latched onto the end of a teasing Jeon Sanghoon corner in the 21st minute.

Despite Busan's verve and drive in the final third, Daejeon were still in the game and were looking to get back on level terms; their forward play was a little more considered than that of previous weeks. There wasn't quite as many hurried long balls to the striker, instead Citizen looked to get the ball into central areas and attempt to find the back of the net from distance - clearly Ko Jongsoo had given his players license to shoot on sight of goal.

Busan themselves enjoyed spells in the game and when doing so showed exactly why they are a team that have been mooted as promotion contenders; their passing was sharp and purposeful and they looked threatening every time they went forward. But, Brazilian striker Alemao looked as though he is still taking time to settle in to life in the K League.

But, when Busan were in their stride Citizen struggled to get near their south coast counterparts and were perhaps lucky to have gone in at the break at just one goal down, especially given that the Purples had their goalkeeper dismissed 10 minutes before the break.

A long ball over the top from Song Changho in the direction Lee Dongjun caught the Daejeon back four by surprise and, with Lee playing off the shoulder of the last defender, was just about onside as the 21-year-old made a beeline for the penalty area.

With Citizen's back four half asleep goalkeeper Kim Jinyoung took matters into his own hands but looked uneasy outside of his box and clumsily collided with Lee Dongjun just outside the penalty area. There wasn't any intent to foul Lee but there was enough contact to cause him to hit the deck. With both players laying on the floor, the referee readied himself to produce a red for Citizen's custodian as soon as the former Pohang stopper got to his feet.

It was a clear foul but Lee's heavy touch meant that he would have had a real struggle to keep the ball in play, let alone find the back of the net and so a yellow card might have been the fairer outcome.

Nevertheless, Citizen were down to 10 men and so Ko Jongsoo was forced into making a tactical reshuffle, bringing on the reserve goalkeeper Lim Minhyeok for centre back Cho Taegeun.

In the second period Citizen looked undeterred and were still searching for that elusive equaliser but it was clear that the likes of Kim Chanhee and Park Inhyeok weren't having the desired effect.

Eventually both were substituted, the first being Kim Chanhee who, despite scoring in the reserves in midweek, looked rusty and was hooked off in the 58th minute, shortly after tripping over his own feet as he bared down on goal. His replacement, Kim Seongjoo, made an impact, adding a certain level of intensity and desire to Daejeon's attack.

But still, Daejeon just couldn't find an equaliser and so Pedro was introduced in the 86th minute to replace Park Inhyeok. The Brazilian looked a threat immediately, winning headers and linking up play effectively and had last week's match winner have been on the pitch earlier then the Purples might have got something from the game.

Daejeon's last chance of the game fell to Kim Seongjoo whose header from a Jeon Sanghoon cross went narrowly over the bar with just injury time left to play.

A draw would have been a fairer result simply because Daejeon's play deserved more but, ultimately, defensive mistakes and poor decision making on and off the field meant that it was the visitors who took all three points.