Daejeon Hana Citizen's now-traditional autumn revival could seal ACL again

There's a collective belief among some sections of the Daejeon Hana Citizen fan base that once autumn arrives, the team comes good again. Once the traditional calendar reaches ipchu - the traditional 13th solar term in the East Asian lunisolar calendar- Daejeon Hana Citizen get serious again and finish the campaign strongly.

There's evidence to back that up. In the 2023 season, after a sticky patch from June 7th to September 1st, during which Daejeon managed just two wins in 12, autumn saw a return to form with three wins, five draws and just one loss from their last nine matches. The outcome was safety secured early and eighth place, well above the relegation playoffs.

In 2024, a season that saw Daejeon only secure survival in Round 37, Citizen went from September 1st until the end of the season - a run of 10 matches - with six wins, two draws and two losses. In truth, Daejeon did well throughout August as well, but a late-season turnaround saw Hwang Sun-sung steer Daejeon to safety.

Last season, after a spell of inconsistency in July and August, the September-to-season-end run yielded six wins from 10 with just two losses.

Daejeon, even under Hwang Sun-hong over the last two seasons, have it in them to put in a solid end to the campaign. The aim at the start of this one was to win the title; that ship has already sailed, but the new target is to qualify for the AFC Champions League again.

Kang Yoon-seong said as much in the post-match mixed zone following Daejeon's 1-0 win over Kyoto Sanga.

"Playing in the ACLE for the first time, I really got a taste of it. It made me want to be in it again next year. We can't qualify with our current league position, so we need to improve. The players are all clearly aware of this. I think this match will make the other players want to play in the ACLE again next year as well. Since we have to be better than other teams in the league and beat them to qualify, I think the players will mentally prepare themselves starting from the next match against Incheon and put on a good performance. I think this has served as an opportunity for us to gain a little more confidence."

Since the turn of September this year, Daejeon have two wins and two draws - including a 5-0 victory away to Bucheon, as well as the historic ACL win over Kyoto Sanga, suggesting that this autumn revival has already begun. August was productive, too, with four wins from six, giving them a more solid foundation to end the season well.

Daejeon's pre-split run-in is Jeonbuk and Gwangju at home in Rounds 31 and 32, then Gimcheon away in Round 33. Six, perhaps even seven, points would be a reasonable target given the current league standings of the latter two, plus the away form of the former - four wins from 15.