Preview: Jeonnam Dragons vs Ansan Greeners

Two stuttering sides meet on the south coast to try and turn their seasons around as the Jeonnam Dragons host Ansan Greeners for the first time in their history. 

Last Time Out

Jeonnam travelled to Busan, buoyed by an impressive 2-1 win against Daejeon in Round 12; their first win in four. However, the league leaders went ahead after just eight minutes through Kim Jin-gyu and Jeonnam could not find an answer, leaving Busan to claim their eight win of the season. The Jeonnam defence was most busy, racking up three yellow cards in the process of trying to keep out K2's highest scoring attack.

Highlights: here

Ansan’s woes continued last Monday, as Lim Wan-seop’s men fell to a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Bucheon 1995, who leapfrogged the hosts into sixth in K League 2. The Greeners had been unbeaten in their last six against Bucheon and came close to opening the scoring through a well struck free-kick on the half hour mark by centre-back Lee In-jae that forced keeper Choi Cheol-won into a sprawling two-handed stop. 1995 responded through their Brazilian midfielder, Nilson, who was inches away with a speculative pile driver moments before the break. The Green Wolves failed to heed the warning as the visitors took the lead shortly after the restart. It happened in a somewhat fortuitous fashion with Lee Kwang-jae’s cross-cum-shot deflecting off Lee In-jae and ending up in the back of the Greeners' net.

Ansan’s hopes of restoring parity were dealt a huge blow when the home eleven were reduced to ten at the 53 minute mark. Kim Dae-yeol deliberately handled the balll to deny a clear goal-scoring opportunity after being caught in possession by Lee In-Kyu. Hee-seong then did brilliantly to deny ex-Daegu forward Jang Baek-kyu from the resulting set-piece. However, the Green Wolves’ evening went from bad to worse when Gustavo Vintecinco’s penalty was superbly kept out by Man of the Match, Choi Cheol-won. Park Jin-seop somehow managed to put the rebound wide. A glaring miss that summed up the Greeners’ night.

Highlights: here

Previous Meetings

Ansan crushed Jeonnam at the Wa 3-0 at the start of the May with a double from Vintecinco and one from Jang Hyeok-jin. It seems like a long time ago for both sides with only Jeonnam managing a solitary win in the intervening four matches.

Highlights: here

[LISTEN: Update on all 10 K League 2 teams in the latest #KLUpod]

Team News

All Jeonnam players should be available with 35-year-old defensive stalwart Choi Hyo-jin likely to start having played the most minutes for the Dragons this season.

For Ansan, Lee Chang-hoon is expected to be fit for this one as well despite being forced off with concussion in the Bucheon fixture. The striker-turned-defender was replaced by Fauver after colliding with Lee Hee-seong following the goalkeeper’s attempts to claim a lofted pass from Lee Kwang-jae deep into the second half. Additionally, Kim Dae-yeol is suspended after his dismissal against Bucheon.

Current Form

Ansan have not won in their last four since their resounding victory over Jeonnam at the Wa~ at the start of May. Consecutive away draws against Asan Mugunghwa and FC Anyang have been preceded by substandard home losses to Suwon FC and Bucheon 1995. The Greeners have conceded on fifteen occasions thus far in the league and have produced a meagre goal return to date, averaging just one per game. A damning statistic that has been hindered by the Green Wolves’ inability to take their chances up front in addition to missig three out of four penalty-kicks this term. Gustavo Vintecinco’s latest failure comes after Jang Hyeok-jin and Fauver’s wastefulness from twelve yards in the score draw at Seoul E-Land in early March.

Manager Lim Wan-seop will be feeling the pressure as the Ansan faithful expected better performances, particularly in their previous two outings, which many Greeners’ supporters saw as ‘winnable fixtures.’

Prediction

It is a must win for both sides as Jeonnam's fall from grace has been much harder than expected and Ansan seem unable to put together any type of good run. Despite the events at the Wa earlier in the month, this looks like it could be cagey with two sloppy goals apiece. In which case, like the conclusion of a certain TV show, both the wolf and the dragon look set to lose out.

Jeonnam Dragons 1-1 Ansan Greeners