Week 12: Small Review of K League 2

Seoul E-Land and Jeonnam Dragons were the big winners on Buddha's Birthday, closing the gap on Suwon Bluewings in second. Like last season, K League 2 is incredibly tight as only six points separates 2nd from 10th. But we do have a clear front-runner for the first time; FC Anyang opened up a five-point lead at the top following a narrow win over Gyeongnam FC. 

Due to the short turnaround in fixtures, this review will be much shorter than previous ones. There's a full round of matches this coming weekend.

Chungnam Asan 1 (Choi Chi-won 89')

Gimpo FC 2 (Jung Han-cheol 75', Leonard Pllana 79')

Yi Sun-sin

1,183

Following a disappointing loss to Bucheon in their home opener, Gimpo FC got back to winning ways thanks to two goals in four second-half minutes against Asan. Jung Han-cheol's opening goal was his first in professional football, and won him the man-of the-match award. Leonard Pllana came off the bench to score his first for his new team, with the assist coming from an outrageously waterlogged pitch. We've yet to see the sort of form the Albanian produced for Jeonnam but if this is a start, Gimpo will continue to move up the table.

Bucheon FC 1995 0

Ansan Greeners 0

Bucheon Stadium

1,602

Ansan players react to a difficult day's football in Bucheon.

Across most of the country, the weather made it extremely difficult for a good game of football to break out. The Bucheon pitch was close to waterlog status with enormous puddles developing behind the goals. Despite that, there was a flurry of activity inside the opening seven minutes, all belonging to Ansan. After that, virtually nothing happened until Kim Seon-ho's glorious late chance to win the game for Bucheon. The Ansan keeper was so relieved to make the save, he lay motionless on the pitch for what seemed like an eternity. 

Jeonnam Dragons 2 (Kim Jong-min 39', Valdivia 45+2')

Seongnam FC 0 

Gwangyang Football Stadium

3,475

Jeonnam Dragons celebrate back-to-back wins.

After a shaky run of form, Jeonnam Dragons have slowly crept into into the play-off picture with a comfortable win over Seongnam. Even more encouragingly has been the return to form of their talismanic Brazilian, Valdivia. The playmaker has two in two, propelling Jeonnam into 4th. His goal against Seongnam, on the stroke of half time, was down to a massive slice of fortune and some shambolic defending. The dangerous Valdivia was completely unmarked and smashed home from 12 yards. Kim Jong-min grabbed his 5th of the season, equaling his best-ever single season return. Is this the start of a Jeonnam title push?

[READ: Korean Cup 4th Round Draw] 

FC Anyang 1 (Yago 22')

Gyeongnam FC 0

Anyang Stadium

2,858

The Anyang match winner, Yago.

Anyang recruited well over the winter but keeping hold of man-of-the-match Yago might well be the difference between play-off contending and League 2 champions. The Brazilian was the match winner on Wednesday night, notching his third of the campaign, and what a good goal it was. Ri Jong-jik's superb left to right ball was measured to perfection, allowing Yago to turn his marker before curling this shot home. When he scores, Anyang always win. He doesn't always start for Anyang, but given his energy levels, he's a great option to bring off the bench against a tiring defense. 

Cheonan City FC 0 

Seoul E-Land 4 (Eduvie Ikuba  7' and 19', Lee Dong-ryul 50', Bruno Silva 84')

Cheonan Stadium

550

The weather conditions were appalling on Wednesday night but following their shock win over Suwon Bluewings last weekend, it is disappointing only 500 people attended this game. This is the second away game on the bounce that E-Land have played in front of triple figures. Despite another goal for the League's best player, Bruno Silva, this game belonged to striker Eduvie Ikuba. After a slow start, the American has five goals in his last five matches, pushing him to joint-third in the ranking. If Bruno and Ikuba maintain this level of form and fitness, they'll be very hard to stop this season.

Chungbuk Cheongju 0 

Busan IPark 0 

Cheongju Stadium

1,446

It was a credit to both team for lasting 90 minutes on what was a completely waterlogged pitch. Passes almost never found their intended target and it was nearly impossible to string a few phases together. Occasionally we see conditions as bad as this in July, but it must have been really disappointing for Cheongju to have a potential bumper holiday crowd stay away due to the inclement weather. Predictably, there were no clear chances in 90 minutes.

Suwon Samsung sat out Round 12.

Up next...

Saturday

Ansan Greeners vs. Chungbuk Cheongju FC (16:30)

Seoul E-Land vs. Jeonnam Dragons (19:00)

Suwon Samsung vs. Bucheon FC 1995 (19:00)

Sunday

Cheonan City FC vs. FC Anyang (16:30)

Seongnam FC vs. Busan IPark (16:30)

Gyeongnam FC vs. Gimpo FC (19:00)

Chungnam Asan have a much-needed rest.