Recap: Suwon Samsung Bluewings 0-4 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

A sizeable crowd of 19,164 attended the Big Bird on Saturday afternoon for Suwon Samsung Bluewings’ first home game of the season. Whether they were sold on what they saw, however, will remain to be seen after the hosts were easily defeated by fierce rivals Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, leaving them with zero points from their first two matches of the 2019 K League season.



Suwon Samsung Bluewings adopted the slogan of “Begin Again” to usher in 2019. A new manager and some solid, even if not spectacular business completed in the transfer window seemed to draw out a strong opening attendance to witness this potential new dawn.

The match would also be Suwon captain Yeom Ki-hun’s 300th match for his club. Yeom’s achievements in the K League can only be matched by a select few and he serves not just as an ambassador for his club, but the division itself.

Changing from a 4-4-2 to a 4-1-4-1, manager Lee Im-saeng looked for a more cautious approach after his side fell to a 2-1 defeat in the opening round. He also afforded a debut to centre back Ko Myeong-seok after opting to play full-backs in the centre last week.

Jeonbuk manager José Morais opted to make three changes to his side that defeated Beijing Guoan midweek. Striker Lee Dong-gook, midfielder Shin Hyung-min and right back Choi Chul-soon were all rotated out to be replaced by Kim Shin-wook, debutant Choi Young-jun and Myeong Jun-jae.

Any cautious optimism in the stands prior to kick-off would be quickly dashed. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors got off to a flying start when, with barely two minutes on the clock, a flicked header in midfield from striker Kim Shin-wook split the Suwon defence and sent winger Ricardo Lopes through on goal. He may have slowed up as he approached but still calmly slotted it beyond Suwon ‘keeper Kim Da-sol.

The away side did not have to wait long to further their lead when a deflected ball from Han Kyo-won lofted itself over the home side’s defence to an unmarked Kim Shin-wook who struck it first time beyond the goalkeeper who will likely think he could have done better.

By the twenty minute mark, it was three. A persistent run by Han Kyo-won down the right-hand side followed by a cross to an untracked Lopes on the opposite flank sent the Brazilian winger through for his second of the afternoon.

Suwon manager Lee Im-saeng reacted to the third goal by replacing central defender Kim Min-ho with recently signed Australian striker Adam Taggart. The remaining chances though would mostly be Jeonbuk’s with Kim Jin-su and Han Kyo-won spurning late opportunities to further the visitors’ lead.

Half time saw both sides make attacking substitutions, with Suwon manager Lee Im-saeng replacing central midfielder Yoo Ju-an with winger Waguininho. Jeonbuk head coach José Morais opted to take off the influential Han Kyo-won and offer a second substitute appearance for recently signed Moon Seon-min.

The additional change certainly seemed to have an impact on the Bluewings as they began the second half with a heightened impetus on attacking, especially down the left flank where Waguininho and Hong Chul sought to attack and exploit Jeonbuk’s weakened right-back position. Ten minutes later and the Suwon manager used his last substitute to take off Lim Sang-hyeop for Han Eui-kwon.

However, Jeonbuk reacted by looking to shore things up quickly, bringing on defensive midfielder Shin Hyung-min for attacking-midfielder Lee Seung-gi.

Suwon’s Adam Taggart came close to pulling back for Suwon in the 64th minute but his angle proved to narrow to capitalise on and goalkeeper Song Beom-keun pushed it out for a corner kick. It would be Jeonbuk who find the next goal moments later, however, with Moon Seon-min scoring his first for the club after volleying in a Lopes cross. Did he do his celebratory dance? Yes, he did.

Moon nearly turned to assist maker ten minutes later as he laid off a pass to Lopes to place the winger through on goal but this time the Brazilian was thwarted by the backtracking Suwon defender. The resulting corners that followed amounted to nothing.

An error from Suwon goalkeeper Kim Da-sol looked as if he had gifted Jeonbuk their fifth when he passed the ball out to Jeonbuk's Han Seung-kyu, who had come on five minutes earlier for Lee Seung-gi.

It was once again Adam Taggart who nearly responded for Suwon, narrowly curling a ball beyond 'keeper Song Beom-keun's far-post. The two cameo appearances by the Australian have certainly been encouraging and it is difficult to imagine him not starting soon, especially after today's heavy defeat.

Suwon thought to have had claims for a penalty in the 86th minutes when Han Eui-kwon claimed to have been taken down by Shin Hyung-min. Consultation with VAR a full minute after the incident, however, deemed otherwise.

The incident proved to be the last major talking point of the game as Jeonbuk saw out the match to leave as 4-0 victors and leave the home side asking many questions of themselves.