Recap: Jeju United 0-0 Suwon FC - A Disappointing Day for The Islanders

 Jeju United hosted Suwon FC in the early Sunday kick-off. The recent history between these two suggested a draw would be in place, however, after the final whistle, Jeju will feel like this draw is more of a defeat. 

My Pre-Match Predictions

In my Jeju United vs Suwon FC match preview, I suggested a draw would be the likely outcome, I said a 2-2 draw would be the final score. Granted I got the result right, I was disappointed the score remained 0-0. I also stated that Suwon FC would match Jeju’s tactics and, to the best of their ability, try and shut out The Tangerines’ high possession based attacking football… which Suwon FC would say was somewhat successful. 

Below are the match statistics, where you can see just how dominant Jeju were, but just like 2022, they lacked a clinical threat. 

Statistical Run-Down

Jeju United	0-0	Suwon FC
61%	Possession	39%
14	Shots	8
7	Shots on Target	2
8	Corners	1
13	Fouls	10
3	Yellow Cards	3

Attendance: 8,362

How The Teams Lined-Up

Jeju United:

3-4-3:

GK: Kim Dong-jun;
DEF: Kim Oh-kyu, Lim Chae-min, Woon Chung;
MID: Ahn Hyun-beom, Choi Young-jun, Lee Chang-min, Jeon Seong-jin;
ATT: Kim Ju-gong, Yuri, Koo Ja-cheol.

Substitutes:

Gi Sang-wook (90+1’ Ahn Hyun-beom), Kim Bong-soo (52’ Choi Young-jun), Kim Keun-bae, Kim Seung-sub (90+1’ Kim Ju-gong), Reis, Seo Jin-su (90+1’ Koo Ja-cheol), Song Ju-hun (65’ Jeon Seong-jin).

Suwon FC:

3-4-3:

GK: Lee Bum-young;
DEF: Park Byung-hyun, Lee Jae-sung, Jackson;
MID: Shin Se-gye, Park Joo-ho, Yoon Bit-garam, Park Cheol-woo;
ATT: Jang Jae-woong, Lee Dae-kwang, Murilo. 

Substitutes:

Hwang Soon-min (90+10’ Lee Gwang-hyeok), Kim Hyun-hun, Lee Gwang-hyeok (17’ Jang Jae-woong), Lee Seung-woo (46’ Park Byung-hyun), No Dong-geon, Oh In-pyo (86’ Murilo), Veldwijk (17’ Lee Dae-kwang).

[WATCH: Jeju United vs Suwon FC Highlights.]

First Half Run-Down

Due to the delays at Pohang Steelyard, the Jeju World Cup Stadium match-up was the early Sunday kick-off.

3rd Minute: Tensions flared early in this match, when Jeju's wide midfielder, Ahn Hyun-beom, shoved Suwon FC's Park Cheol-woo in the back, off the ball, as it was going out for a Suwon goal kick. The unnecessary reaction was deemed a non-bookable offence by the referee, who, in his best attempts, tried to calm the game down as early as possible.

7th Minute: A sensational cross-field diagonal pass from Choi Young-jun found the feet of Jeon Seong-jin. After some good hold-up play from Shin Se-gye, Jeon found a short pass near the corner of the penalty area to Koo Ja-cheol. To the defender's obliviousness, a lovely back-heel flick to turn in the opposite direction created some space for the winger and his low driven shot into the bottom corner was met by the hands of Lee Bum-young, who parried it out for a corner. The resulting corner was headed away by the Suwon FC defence for another corner, and that cross was punched out by the Suwon FC goalkeeper.

17th Minute: We saw the first substitutions of the match, both for Suwon FC. Lars Veldwijk replaced Lee Dae-kwang and Lee Gwang-hyeok came on in place of Jang Jae-woong. A strictly tactical change as the two players leaving the field filled the U-22 quota.

18th Minute: Shortly after the tactical change, Suwon found themselves forcing Jeju to play it long. The clearance on Jeju's goal line, by the corner flag, found Koo Ja-cheol. However, a heavy touch allowed Shin Se-gye to gain possession. A lovely 1-2 move with Lars Veldwijk was met by a shot from Shin, but the keeper wasn't tested as the ball curled away from the goal for a goal kick.

21st Minute: A trip by Jackson on Yuri, who seemed to be through on goal had the challenge not been made, led to the Australian being the second yellow-carded player of the match. The smart free kick from Lee Chang-min found an unmarked Ahn on the near corner of the box. His low cross found the feet of Kim Ju-gong, but the Korean couldn't convert from 6 yards out, his weak shot was straight at the Suwon FC keeper and eventually cleared for Jeju's third corner of the match.

28th Minute: Following patient, possession-based build-up play, there were penalty shouts from Jeju as Kim Ju-gong fell over in the box, which the referee and VAR showed no interest in. Suwon FC then countered quickly down the other end and outnumbered Jeju, however, a poor shot from Lee Gwang-hyeok fell kindly into the hands of Jeju's Kim Dong-jun.

42nd Minute: GOAL!! Or so Jeju thought… Ahn's low whip into the box towards the back post caused a goal-mouth scrap which was eventually put away by new signing Yuri Jonathan, however, to his disappointment, he was in an offside position. The score remained 0-0 leading into Half-Time.

Half-Time Thoughts

A dominant half from Jeju could've seen them go into the break 1-0 up if Yuri was just a couple of yards further back. Overall, a disappointing half for both teams. 0-0 is possibly the fair result at the interval, with neither team creating many clear-cut chances.

Second Half Run-Down

46th Minute: Just after the break, we saw Suwon FC's third substitution. This time Lee Seung-woo came on for Park Byung-hyun. Soon after this substitution, Suwon FC came flying out the blocks, a run down the left wing and an eventual cross from Veldwijk found Lee Gwang-Hyeok but his shot from 10 yards out hit Kim Dong-jun in the chest, and the rebound from Murilo went high, over the bar.

52nd Minute: Jeju made their first change of the match. Kim Bong-soo replaced an injured Choi Young-jun. We all wish him a speedy recovery, the length and type of injury are currently unknown. If I had to hazard a guess, it looked to be a knee injury, and unfortunately, that means he could be out for a very long time.

55th Minute: PENALTY TO JEJU!! A sloppy back pass from Shin Se-gye was met by Yuri, but he was then wiped out by a sliding tackle from Lee Bum-young and a penalty was awarded to the home side. 

56th Minute: Penalty Missed... Yuri sent Lee the wrong way, but his strike cannoned off the post. The score remains 0-0. Suwon then countered down the other end but it ended with yet another poor shot from Murilo, which went wide.

The rest of the half saw more and more Jeju attacks, which were either blocked, saved, or sent wide. Overall, a poor final-third display from the Tangerines.

Full-Time Thoughts

As stated in the title, Jeju are still haunted by the lack of clinical ability from last season. As stated in my match preview, Jeju are a possession-dominant side, but once again, couldn't find the back of the net. This season they are without their 2022 top scorer Joo Min-kyu which poses the question... If Jeju found it hard to score with Joo, how much harder will it be for the Islanders without him?

On the other hand, Suwon FC will be delighted with the result. They came to Seogwipo and produced hardly any threats. It was apparent they came to not lose, rather than to win. Despite their high fortunes in Yuri's offside goal and penalty miss, they will see it as a tactical success. Resulting in the only draw in the opening weekend in K League 1.

Next Up for Both Teams

Matchweek 2 sees Jeju United travel to DGB Daegu Bank Park to face Daegu FC. Daegu will be disappointed with their opening fixture as they saw a 2-1 lead turn into a 3-2 defeat in the 91st minute, with Pohang's Lee Ho-Jae getting the winner for the home side.

As for Suwon FC, they host Pohang Steelers, who will have great confidence following the aforementioned 3-2 comeback victory against Daegu FC in the final five minutes.