Bucheon hammer Seongnam on landmark occasion

Bucheon FC marked their 600th appearance as a professional club with a 3-0 trashing of 10-man Seongnam on Wednesday night. Rodrigo Bassani ran the show once Seongnam's half-time substitute Choi Jun-hyeong was red-carded four minutes after entering the match.

Bucheon FC 1995 3 (Han Ji-ho 7', Rodrigo Bassani 56', Lee Jeong-bin 60')

Seongnam FC 0

Rodrigo Bassani scored his 10th goal of the season during a comfortable midweek stroll against Seongnam. The influential Brazilian was quiet in the opening period, but once second-half substitute Choi Jun-hyeong was sent off five minutes after entering, he found the space to greatly influence the final 40 minutes.

Bucheon have now won three straight and are unbeaten in five to climb into the play-off positions thanks to Suwon's loss to Busan. They opened the scoring early and never once looked threatened by a very poor and limited Seongnam side. As the clock ticked down, Bucheon spent the remainder of the match just passing the ball around, enjoying the cool Autumn temperatures.

Seongnam are now 6 years without a win against Bucheon and one wonders whether the Magpies have even hit rock bottom yet. They are bottom of K League 2 - no place for one of Korea's most successful clubs - and thanks to Gyeongnam's draw against Gimpo, they are cut adrift. Seongnam are very fortunate the pathway to K3 relegation is still two years away.

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It is always a great disappointment when Bucheon’s legendary skipper Nilson Junior isn’t fit for selection, even more so on the occasion of Bucheon’s 600th game. The Brazilian has now missed the last three games but Bucheon’s form had been superb in that period, winning all three, including this one. Nilson was in attendance, shaking hands and smiling for photos throughout the match.

His teammates didn’t have to wait long for their opening goal of the game, and what a soft goal it was, too. A swift counter down the left led to Kim Sun-ho’s inviting cross landing perfectly at the feet of stand-in captain Han Ji-ho. Kim’s cross and Han’s positioning were of the highest standard, but Seongnam manager Jeon Kyeong-jun will be furious at the ease with which his side was ripped open. 

In fairness to Seongnam, they tightened up for the remainder of the half, limiting Bucheon to half-chances and shots from distance. Rodrigo Bassani, playing off Han Ji-ho, was unsurprisingly the creator-in-chief for the hosts but aside from one chance that flashed wide, he was well-contained in the opening period. Seongnam had a couple of half chances of their own but this was a largely forgettable first 45.

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The goal scorer, and captain, Han, was replaced at the break by Lee Eui-hyeong, the only change made by the home team. Seongnam, for their part, removed Yang Tae-yang and Oh Jae-hyeok for Choi Jun-yeong and Toni Correia, respectively. 

Choi was on the field for no more than five minutes before he was back in the dressing room, given a straight red, after VAR intervention, for a dreadful tackle on the far touchline. In fairness to Choi, he didn’t argue the call, and neither did any of his teammates. It was one of those tackles when all 22 players, the officials, and fans were just waiting for the VAR interference.

Up a man and a goal, Bucheon looked to end the contest as soon as possible. A header from the red card free was pushed away for a corner and then Lee Jeong-bin injured himself almost getting on the end of a cross from the right. It didn’t matter because, from the kickout, the influential Rodrigo Bassani intercepted to score in the bottom corner. Seongnam protested. The officials disagreed. Game over.

On 60 minutes, Lee Jeong-bin, who was having a huge game in midfield, made up for his earlier miss by grabbing number three. It was a tap-in for his third of the season, but the damage was caused by Lee Eui-hyeong, weaving some magic inside the box before finding the unmarked Jeong-bin. Lee took on two defenders, turned back inside, and played a simple ball across the 6-yard box for the finish. To save legs for a long weekend trip south, Lee Jeong-bin was replaced soon after scoring.

The home team had about a half-dozen more opportunities to add to their total but settled for three in what is likely to be the most stress-free outing of the season for the club on their big day.

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Line ups

Bucheon FC: 

(1) Kim Hyeon-geun; (3) Seo Myeong-gwan, (2) Lee Sang-hyuk, (20) Hong Seong-uk; (7) Choi Byeong-chan, (23) Takahashi Kazuki, (16) Park Hyeon-bin, (37) Kim Seon-ho, (8) Lee Jeong-bin; (97) Rodrigo Bassani, (22) Han Ji-ho.

Substitutes: 

(31) Kim Hyeon-yeob, (13) Park Hyeong-jin, (30) Jeon In-kyu, (5) Jeong Ho-jin, (32) Jeong Jae-yong, (9) Park Ho-min, (18) Lee Eui-hyeong.

Seongnam FC: 

(21) Choi Pil-su; (19) Yang Tae-yang, (22) Jeong Seung-yong, (66) Kim Joo-won, (13) Koo Bon-cheol; (2) Park Kwang-il(c), (6) Jeong Won-jin, (7) Oh Jae-hyeok; (27) Lee Jun-sang,  (47) Park Ji-won, (9) Leandro Ruiz.

Substitutes: 

(1) Yoo Sang-hoon, (3) Kang Eui-bin, (16) Ryu Jun-sun, (37) Choi Jun-yong, (25) Toni Correia, (17) Shin Jae-won, (90) Lee Jung-min.

The fans

They might be South Gyeonggi rivals with two stadiums located next to a metro line, but Seongnam is a long way from Bucheon, especially for a 19:30 kick-off. Still, it was disappointing to see around 70 visiting fans behind the goals, under the stadium's only big-screen TV.

Admittedly, the home fans didn't show up in great numbers, either. Especially considering they have a playoff berth to fight for, unlike their desperate visitors. Bucheon are also in good form, winning three of their last four, and drawing the other game.

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Up next

Bucheon FC make the long drive south to Gwangyang (Monday, 7:30) in their quest to keep their K League 2 promotion hopes alive. Lee Yeong-min's men have only collected one point from six against the Dragons so far. In May, they came out worst in a seven-goal thriller in Bucheon, when Jeonnam scored twice after the 85th minute to snatch the victory.

Bottom-placed Seongnam stayed on the road, but they're back in action a day early. The Magpies visit Chungbuk Cheongju at 7 PM on Sunday. Like Bucheon above, Seongnam have only collected one draw in two games versus Cheongju this season. That was away last month. Cheongju took all three points when the sides met at Tancheon in April.

Best player: Rodrigo Bassani
Attendance: 1,760

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