Preview: Ansan Greeners vs FC Anyang
K League 2 high-fliers Ansan Greeners and FC Anyang meet at
the Wa~ Stadium on Sunday evening in what promises to be an intriguing third
versus fourth clash. A victory in this latest ‘Line 4 derby’ could go a long way to
determining which of these Gyeonggi foes finishes in a playoff position come
the end of the season.
Last Time Out
Ansan Greeners 2-1 Gwangju FC
Ansan produced a terrific late comeback to stun leaders,
Gwangju FC at the Wa~ a fortnight ago. The South Jeolla front-runners came
close to making the breakthrough in the opening stages of the affair, after Felipe’s
searching low cross was intercepted by Choi Myeong-hee with Eom Won-sang
lurking. The hosts failed to heed this early warning, as ten minutes later,
Felipe’s flick-on was met by the intelligent run of Eom who closed down Greeners’
keeper, Hwang In-jae’s attempted clearance and slotted into an empty net to put
the Challenge pacesetters into the lead. The Green Wolves were poor in the
first forty-five, but should have brought parity five minutes prior to the
break, when Park Jin-seop blazed high and wide from a corner kick after Yoon
Pyeong-gook failed to deal with Gustavo Vintecinco’s header.
The second period was an entirely different story though.
Lim Wan-seop’s team talk at the interval had the desired effect, as the home
eleven were entirely transformed from the restart, and should have been level a
minute into the half, when Jang Hyeok-jin shot straight at Yoon from Hwang
Tae-hyeon’s clever ball. Gwak Seong-wook then hit the post with an audacious
half-volley following Vintecinco’s chested lay-off. Park Jun-su responded for
the Honam travelers, with a rasping drive that was kept out by Hwang. The
Gojan canines’ riposte was instant, with the woodwork coming to Gwangju’s aid once
more, with Vintecinco crashing a header against the crossbar moments later, Jang’s
effort on the rebound was blocked by the feet of Yoon. The Greeners continued to turn the screw, and centre-back, Lee In-jae
blasted over from six yards out from Choi’s lofted pass on the hour-mark.
The Green Wolves’ gutsy endeavor
finally paid off twenty minutes from time. Substitute forward, Ishida Masatoshi
smashed home a penalty to tie the game, after being bundled over by Choi
Jun-hyeok. The momentum was now firmly with Lim’s pack, and things went from
bad to worse for Park Jin-sup’s side, after the division’s leading goalscorer,
Felipe received a straight red for kicking a water bottle at the fourth official. The man advantage really put the wind in Ansan’s
sails, with Masatoshi nodding wide from another fine Choi delivery when well placed,
the Japanese was not to be denied a winner however, curling home from the edge
of the penalty zone at the death via a deflection off Uzbek defender,
Rustamzhon Ashurmatov to send the home faithful into raptures.
FC Anyang 0-0 Daejeon Citizen
FC Anyang 0-0 Daejeon Citizen
As for the Green Wolves’ opponents this weekend, FC Anyang
endured a frustrating night versus lowly Daejeon Citizen two weeks back in a
drab stalemate at the Anyang Sports Complex. Bottom-of-the-table Daejeon made
the brighter start, and almost went one-up courtesy of Park Su-chang’s
set-piece that landed on the top of Yang Dong-won’s net. This early scare
seemed to spark the Violets into life and the hosts would have broken the
deadlock, but for a tremendous last-ditch tackle from Lee Jung-moon on Cho
Kyu-sung inside the Citizen box. Lee Heung-sil’s Purples showed glimpses of
promising attacking quality throughout, and Park Su-chang went close again with
a classy swivel-and-shot into the side netting. Although it was the Gyeonggi XI
that were unfortunate not to go into the recess a goal to the good, with Alex
and Cho Kyu-sung both missing the mark after being teed up in the offensive
third, and Park Ju-won ensured that the visitors’ slate remained clean on the
stroke of half-time, thwarting Lee Jeong-bin from point-blank range.
In stark contrast, the second forty-five was dearth of
clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, and it was in fact the Hoseo outfit that
should have gone in front, but Matheus Antonio could not find a way past Yang
in between the Anyang sticks. Kim Hyeong-yeol’s players almost made Antonio pay
for his wastefulness, spurning a gilt-edged chance with time running out, Kim
Sang-won cleared Park’s bar in the Daejeon area from a Maeng Seong-woong
pass, a defeat for Citizen would have been extremely harsh however, and the K
League 2 strugglers deservedly picked up a valuable point to keep them within
three of ninth-placed Seoul E-Land.
Previous Meetings
Anyang have had the better of their Sudogwon rivals in
recent times. The Dongan club are unbeaten in their last five against Ansan. You
have to go back to mid-March of 2018 for the last Greeners’ success over the
Violets, when the Green Wolves came up trumps in the first ‘Line 4 derby’ of
last season, which took place at the Wa~. Now
FK Vojvodina striker, Seku
Conneh’s early second-half penalty gave the home side a 2-1 win, following
Anyang’s Jeong Hee-woong’s equaliser that had earlier cancelled out
Hong Dong-hyun’s exquisite volleyed opener.
Team News
Gwak Seong-wook’s recent performances have given Lim a selection
headache ahead of this battle. The 26-year-old bagged the killer third in the Greeners' 3-1 away triumph over Seoul E-Land in Jamsil in August, and the
midfielder further staked a claim for a regular starting place with his
tireless shift last time out, coming off the bench once again, this time replacing
the ineffective Kim Jin-wook with half an hour on the clock, and brought greater
game intelligence and guile to the Green Wolves’ play for the remainder of the
bout.
Anyang are boosted by the return of centre-half, Choi Ho-jeong. The
one-time Daegu man has completed his suspension following his dismissal in the
Seoul E-Land upset for a mistimed high challenge on Leopards’ centre-forward,
Won Ki-jong.
The Adversary
FC Anyang lie in fourth at present, but have been inconsistent of late.
The Violets have not won in their last three, a chastening two-nil setback to
Seoul at the Olympic Stadium has been followed by consecutive draws away to
Busan IPark and at home to Daejeon. Head coach, Kim will be
desperate to arrest the slide, and his team have shown that they are more than
capable of challenging for a playoff spot, having gone eight games without a
loss before the E-Land debacle, a run which included a remarkable 7-1 home
demolition of Gwangju.
What To Watch
Ishida Masatoshi has forced his way into Lim’s first-team
plans. The ex-Kyoto Sanga attacker started his Ansan career well with a superb
assist for Choi Ho-joo’s last-gasp equaliser at Seoul E-Land at the beginning
of March. The Japanese also starred in the Greeners’ 3-2 away conquest over
Suwon FC at Suwon Sports Complex, causing endless problems for the Castle Park
defence for the duration of the encounter, getting on the scoresheet in the
process. The 5’8” striker turned the Gwangju game on its head with a match-winning
brace, and looks certain to start from the off in this fixture.
Prediction
The Green Wolves are in high spirits having won their last
three, however their old nemesis, Anyang have proven to be somewhat of a bogey
team for Ansan since the Greeners’ inception, and Kim Yeon-soo
and Lee In-jae look set for a tough evening’s work against Alex and Cho Kyu-sung, who each
have ten league goals already this year.
Ansan Greeners 1-1 FC Anyang
Ansan Greeners 1-1 FC Anyang
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