Week 19: Short Review of K League 2

Whisper it but Chungnam Asan are positioning themselves for an improbable playoff push after rinsing Seongnam in Tancheon. This was one of two surprise results as Ansan Greeners pulled out a huge performance to batter Seoul E-Land. Anyang and Suwon traveled a long way to return with just a draw, and Rodrigo Bassani has a shout for goal of the season. Here's our rundown of the latest round of K League 2 fixtures.

Gyeongnam FC 0 

FC Anyang 0 

Changwon Football Centre

1,933

Both teams react to the final whistle.

Struggling Gyeongnam FC relieved pressure on manager Park Dong-hyeok with a hard-fought point at home to Anyang on Tuesday night. This was their best performance for a long time and really should have left with the points. Lee Jong-on missed an absolute sitter on 25 minutes but Gyeongnam created plenty of good chances after.

Anyang's lead remains five at the summit after this stalemate and this week is probably about managing resources. Several players were rested with a trip to Bucheon on Sunday. Honestly, though Anyang were pretty awful here and a better team than Gyeongnam would have won comfort. 

[LISTEN: KLU reacts to Korea's back-to-back wins and a K League 2 special]

Jeonnam Dragons 0 (Kim Dong-ok 31')

Suwon Samsung 0 (Kim Ju-chan 93')

Gwangyang Football Stadium

6,948

The Bluewings collapse, and the Dragons hang their heads after late drama in Gwangyang.

The end game here was insane and I wonder will one of the sides look back on this day with some regret by the end of the season. Jeonnam scored first and had several decent chances to close the game out, confirming their status as a promotion candidate. But they failed to and should have been punished for it.

Suwon hit the post on numerous occasions across the 90+ minutes. Even their equalizing goal in the 93rd, basically a tap in, went in off the post. With the last kick of the game, Peter Makrillos curled a beautiful shot with his right foot. The keeper was beaten all ends up. Naturally, the ball crashed off the post. When the referee blew his final whistle, both sets of players crashed to their knees. 

Seongnam 0

Chungnam Asan 0 (Park Dae-hoon 1', Juninho 38', Kang Min-gyu 71', Jose Monreal 78')

Tancheon Stadium

1,296

Asan are a team on a mission these days.

You are reading this right; Chungnam Asan are up to 4th after a pair of 4-0 wins (at home and away) saw them finish June with 10 points from 12 and they must now be considered genuine playoff contenders. Juninho and new recruit Jose Monreal have scored in back-to-back games, adding to the feel-good factor around Yi Sun-sin. Up next: Seoul E-Land at home.

Seongnam, on the other hand, must be the most miserable team in K League to follow. They have a cup quarter-final to look forward to but after a solid winter of investment and much optimism, they look like a bottom 3 club. The defending for all goals was abysmal; the second half goals came directly from losing possession in the same spot to Juninho. The finishing was top class but Seongnam are a shambles.

[READ: Gangwon FC say goodbye to Han Kook-young]

Seoul E-Land 0

Ansan Greeners 3 (Kim Jae-sung 39', Park Jun-bae 60', Lee Jun-seok, OG, 84')

Mokdong Stadium

1,601

Ansan's players celebrate with their fans.

It has been a miserable week for Seoul E-Land. Four days after losing late to Anyang in a top-of-the-table clash, Kim Do-kyun's side were ambushed at home by Ansan Greeners on Wednesday evening. Games between Seoul and Ansan are traditionally high scoring, and the Green Wolves have now avenged their 3-0 home loss to the Leopards in May. This surprise result, after three straight losses, isn't enough to move Ansan off the bottom of the table, but they have cut the gap to Gyeongnam FC to a single point.

[READ: Paul Neat looks at Hong Myung-bo's incredible record]

Gimpo FC 1 (Lee Yong-hyeok 32')

Chungbuk Cheongju 1 (Lee Kang-han' 4)

Solteo Stadium

1,346

After last week's FA Cup loss to Seongnam, Nathan Oduwa told K League United that his team really needs to stop drawing games if they want to be genuine title contenders. This 1-1 in Gimpo is Cheonju's 10th of the campaign, in only 18 matches. There's no other team even remotely close to them in terms of ties. Lee Kang-han's fourth minute goal was their only shot on target in the entire game. Ordinarily, a point in Solteo against K League 2's most inform team would represent a good result, but Oduwa is right. Nevertheless, Cheongju are only four points from 2nd. Gimpo moved ahead of Chungnam Asan thanks to Lee Yong-hyeok's equalizer.

[READ: Korean Cup Cup QF draw]

Cheonan City FC 1 (Paulinho 18')

Bucheon FC 1995 2 (Park Hyung-jin 34', JRodrigo Bassani 84')

Cheonan Stadium

837

Rodrigo Bassani may have scored the goal of the season to lift some of the gloom around Bucheon. His outrageous late goal was worthy of winning any game. A pity of 800 people were there to see it. This represents a really disappointing result for a Cheonan City side that presumably has much higher expectations that last season's 13th placed finish. They took the lead through Paulinho, who's in a rich vein of form, but were pegged back before the break. Bucheon collected all three points after Bassani's late goal. This was an important result for Bucheon, who's season looked to be spiraling out of control following the cuo defeat. Despite a mixed season, the red and blacks are just one point from fifth and host Anyang this weekend.

Busan IPark sat out Round 19.

Up next...

Saturday

Gimpo FC vs. Cheonan City FC (19:00)

Busan IPark vs. Seongnam FC (19:30)

Sunday

Suwon Samsung vs. Ansan Greeners (19:00)

Bucheon FC 1995 vs. FC Anyang (19:00)

Monday

Gyeongnam FC vs. Jeonnam Dragons (19:30)

Chungnam Asan vs. Seoul E-Land (19:30)

Chungbuk Cheongju have a much-needed rest.