Ansan hang on for valuable point | OneFootball

Ansan Greeners and Gyeongnam FC shared the spoils in a poor match on Wednesday night, as the season winds down for both clubs. Gyeongnam were the better team but had to settle for a point before boarding the bus for a long trip home.

Ansan Greeners 1 (Kim Do-yoon 61')

Gyeongnam FC 1 (Kim Hyeong-jin 73')

Second half goals from Kim Do-yoon and Kim Hyeong-jin put some excitement to an otherwise brutal game of football in Wa~ Stadium on Wednesday night. The visitors shaded the contest, but were lucky to leave with a point when Ansan struck the post late on. It was a match without much quality from two sides at the wrong end of the table.

This fixture is where it all began this season for both clubs. On a freezing Friday afternoon, Gyeongnam came to Wa~ and took home all three points, winning 2-1. They repeated their victory in Changwon in late May, with tonight’s match being the third, and final, clash between the sides this year. The cold winter and warm summer have been replaced by a gorgeous autumn evening. The perfect conditions for a game of football.

Before kickoff, Ansan were in 11th spot, on 35 points, four clear of Gyeongnam and a dizzying 11 ahead of promotion-hopefuls at the start of the season, Seongnam FC. 10th position is not a pipe dream anymore for a club that was saved the embarrassment of finishing dead last in 2023 on the final day of the season.

They trailed new club Cheonan City on the final day, but Line 4 rivals Anyang did them a big favor and Ansan climbed to 12th. This still represented a bitterly disappointing season, but 2024 has been much better. They have secured at least 11 points more with two games to play, starting with Suwon Samsung this weekend in Yongin. Added to that, Ansan’s goal difference has gone from -32 to -12.

Their ground, Wa~ Stadium, is a problem however. It is far too big for the tenant club, who are averaging less than 2,000 per home game. Wa~ holds 35,000 spectators. To make matters worse, the field is separated from the pitch by a running truck, which doesn’t feature temporary seating as seen in Anyang, Bucheon, or Seongnam. Recently a petition was lodged with the local City Hall to install temporary seating, making the match-day experience a far more enjoyable one.

On Wednesday, a crowd of 700 was present for this match. This doesn’t represent Ansan’s lowest gate of 2024, but it isn’t far off it. Hopefully the fans’ petition is successful and a new seating arrangement is organized for next season. Given the small numbers, it is very difficult for the noise to travel across the field and into the press box. I didn’t have the pleasure of covering football here during Covid, but this is what it must have been like.

A positive feature about this stadium is the pitch; it must be one of the best in Korea. Aside from a couple of yellow patches either side of the centre circle, the surface was in great condition. That should have led to a better standard of football but in truth, this was one of the poorest games I’ve seen this year. Gyeongnam’s season has been wretched, but Ansan have fared better than expected. Maybe the beach was on their minds?

There were 4 shots on target in the opening half, 0 corners, and 0 bookings.

Was it too much to ask for a better second half?

The first corner of the game arrived in the 52nd minute. Nothing came of it. Two minutes later, Gyeongnam won a free kick outside the Ansan box. They got a shot away, but it drifted wide of the post. These two minutes were more entertaining than the first 50 combined.

When it looked like nothing might happen, Ansan won a penalty. The handball was eventually awarded following a VAR review. Neither the referee's assistant, on the side where the offense took place, nor the referee, spotted the infringement in real time. The assistant, especially, couldn't have had a better view. Kim Do-yoon smashed his spot kick down the middle and Ansan had the lead.

This was Kim's 5th goal in 31 appearances this season. Did they deserve it? Absolutely not, as the home team struggled with just 29% possession in the second half. This was just their second chance on target. Did they care? Not likely.

The lead didn't last long however. Gyeongnam equalized from their first corner on 73 minutes. Brazilian Felipe Saravia whipped in a corner from the left, and it was met by the big defender Kim Hyeong-jin to head past Lee Seung-bin. Gyeongnam deserved their goal and amazingly, from a earlier position of seeing nothing happen, we now had two goals and a grandstand finish.

Kim Woo-bin should have retaken the lead but his shot hit the post from seven yards when it looked easier to score, much to the disbelief of those in the media box. Neither team fashioned another good opportunity, so when the referee brought an end to the game, the relief all around Wa~ was clear to hear.

This match won't be making any highlights reels.

Line ups

Ansan Greeners:

(1) Lee Seung-bin; (4) Jang Yoon-seop, (10) Kim Yeong-nam (c), (20) Kim Jeong-ho; (6) Lee Ji-hoon, (13) Kim Jin-hyeon, (14) Kim Jae-sung, (28) Lee Ji-seung, (33) Lee Taek-geun; (9) Kim Do-yoon. (36), (99) Kim Woo-bin.

Substitutes: (77) Lee Jun-hee, (5) Go Tae-gyu, (11) Kang Soo-il, (12) Yang Sae-young, (16) Jeong Yong-hee, (19) Park Jun-bae, (32) Kim Rae-woo.

Gyeongnam FC:

(13) Kim Min-jun; (3) Lee Chan-uk, (22) Lee Kang-hee, (5) Kim Hyeong-jin; (33) Park Won-jae, (63) Kim Jin-rae, (24) Jeong Hyeon-cheol, (26) Lee Min-hyuk; (7) Felipe Fonseca, (45) Bachana Arabuli, (21) Lee Si-heon.

Substitutes: (87) An Ho-jin, (73) Pak Jae-hwan, (15) Woo Ju-seong, (25) Lee Jong-eon (8) Do Dong-hyeon, (10) Felipe Saravia, (50) Park Dong-jin.

[LISTEN: Final B Run-in]

Up next

Ansan Greeners conclude 2024 with games against Suwon Bluewings, away,  and bottom-placed Seongnam FC in Wa~ Stadium. Sunday's game (16:30 kick-off) will be their second of the season away to Suwon, but this this time they will travel to Yongin for the match. The sides drew in Big Bird during the summer.

Gyeongnam FC have a very tough end to the season. This Sunday (14:00) they welcome Seoul E-Land, currently third, to Changwon before making the long trip north to face title favorites Anyang. This has been a disappointing campaign for the Red Roses, but they can upset two teams with K League 1 aspirations in the final two rounds.

Best player: Kim Hyeong-jinAttendance: 716