Daejeon storm Jeonju Castle with defensive masterclass | OneFootball

Daejeon Hana Citizen climbed above Jeonbuk Motors into 10th spot after a brilliant away win in Jeonju Castle on Saturday afternoon. Goals at the end of each half from Kim Jun-beom rounded off a near-perfect performance from the visitors, who could afford the luxury of a missed penalty to take a set closer to survival.Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0

Daejeon Hana Citizen 2 (Kim Jun-beom 41' and 93')

Time will tell if this is the start of Daejeon's great, late season revival but the visiting team can enjoy the trip back north after this superb outing against fellow relegation contenders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Hwang Sun-hong and his fellow coaches crafted a faultless game plan, executed to perfection by the players. Jeonbuk were, after all, favorites to win this relegation six-pointer.

Daejeon defended expertly in the opening half, restricting the home team to a series of half-chances and then took the lead with their first effort on target as the break approached. Kim Jun-beom only had two goals for the season before today; now he has four, after his imperious finish deep into injury time secured all three points.

The visitors also recovered from penalty miss after Japanese forward Masa's spotkick was saved early in the second half. It was those minutes, however, which laid the foundation for this victory. All 18,000 in attendance probably expected a major backlash from Jeonbuk, in response to the half-time deficit. And despite a couple of close calls, Daejeon kept Jeonbuk out leading up to Masa's penalty save.

The win will not have gone down well in Incheon, who went on to lose on Saturday night against Jeju, all but confirming their automatic relegation. Daejeon were within touching distance but this win opened up a six point gap from bottom spot for the Purples.

Jeonbuk will likely take some solace from that knowledge. Unbelievably, despite huge investment in the playing staff in the two most recent transfer windows, they are playing like a team that's about to face a first-ever relegation. If we thought Suwon Samsung's demotion was seismic last winter, how severe would Jeonbuk's?

They were awful for most of this contest. The biggest criticism one could throw their way was despite the changes, the possession and territory domination, and the number of chances created, there was a spell around 75 minutes when the players on the field didn't know what to do. Jeonbuk had finally run out of options and ideas. Have they finally run out of time?

Anyone who gambled $100 on this being relegation six-pointer in Round 34 would be a rich punter by now. Jeonbuk Motors, starting the season under the guidance of Romanian manager Dan Petrescu, were tipped by many experts to reclaim the K League 1 trophy, residing in Ulsan for two years. They spent heavy over the winter and despite more additions in the summer, arrived here in 10th spot.

In K League 1,10th is in the relegation zone, although not automatic. Jeonbuk were five points clear of the ultimate ignominy, experienced by rivals Suwon last winter, but after their traumatic 4-3 loss in Daegu before the international break, nothing could be ruled out. That night, Jeonbuk came from behind to lead 3-2 in extra time. Somehow, they conspired to lose.

Daejeon, for their part, also had a good winter, on paper at least. They might have lost Tiago to Jeonbuk, but they strengthened in defense and midfield, and then added some attacking options in the summer. I predicted Daejeon to finish 4th in our KLU Preview Pod, behind Ulsan, Jeonbuk, and Seoul.

Instead, Daejeon’s situation is even more precarious than Jeonbuk’s. They were 11th at kick-off, only three points from an automatic relegation spot. Whilst 9th was not an unachievable target, you suspected both teams would have settled for a point pre-game, and fancy their chances of beating whoever they met in a playoff from K League 2. The important thing was staying clear of the beleaguered Incheon United in 12th.

Sometimes adversity brings strength. In this came numbers. Last season, Jeonbuk made the FA Cup final and finished well inside the Final A. But their average gate was down almost 3,000 on this season’s, despite the threat of relegation hanging over the club. The atmosphere against Daejeon was superb, and for someone used to the peaceful surrounds of a K League 2 game not featuring Suwon, matches like like are always to be cherished.

Manager Park Chang-hyun made three attacking changes from the side beaten at Daegu before the split. Out went Jeon Jin-woo, Kim Jin-gyu, and Lee Seung-woo, all demoted to the replacements bench. In their place, Lee Yong-jae, Song Min-kyu, and Jeon Byeong-kwan made the starting xi.

In the opposite dugout, Hwang Sun-hong also made three changes to the starting lineup that lost in Jeju. Daejeon took the lead but conceded late in each half to leave Seogwipo with 0 points. Big defender Anton was one of those to make way, but crucially the visitors were able to recall goalkeeper Lee Chang-geun to lead the side.

The game was nine minutes old when we had our first rash tackle. Jeonbuk forward Song Min-kyu was cynically leveled by referee Kim Jong-hyeok as he look to press Daejeon high up the field. Obviously the collision was accidental, but it was amusing to see a player rolling around in agony for 60 seconds after colliding with a match official.

The first-half was a masterclass in defending from the away team. Often lining up with 5 at the back out of possession, they limited Jeonbuk’s potent front three of Song, Lee, and Andrigo to half-chances and one loud penalty claim but Lee Chang-geun hadn’t been called into action once. Despite the odd scramble, the 11th-placed team were mostly comfortable. Victor Bobsin, sporting his shaggy blonde hair, really stood out in his central position, harassing every Jeonbuk opponent.

Daejeon created their own half-chances on the break, notably from Choi Geon-ju soon after Andrigo had looked to open the deadlock. But it was Daejeon who went ahead. It was a goal that came out of nowhere. Kim Jun-beom put Daejeon ahead in the 42nd minute. Scooping the ball home with his right peg, it seemed to take an age before it nestled into Kim Jun-heong’s net.

The most intriguing match-up of the opening half was Nana Boateng versus Masa. In truth, the Japanese playmaker didn’t look fully fit but the Ghanaian Boateng was all over Masa like a rash in the opening half. The Daejeon 10 complained about one particular shirt pulling incident but overall, this was a battle Boateng was winning. But it didn’t matter, however, as Daejeon took a deserved lead into the break.

Jeonbuk sprung midweek hero Moon Seon-min from the bench at half time. As expected, they ripped into Daejeon after the break, so it was crucial the away side maintained their composure and discipline for those first 10 minutes. They did exactly that, and nearly doubled their lead when Bobsin's low cross from the left evaded everyone.

Then we had the most pivotal moment of the game thus far. Daejeon won a penalty on 57 minutes after a shot on target was deflected onto the post by a handball. Masa stepped up. His steps were short. He hit it well, low towards the bottom left corner. Kim Jun-heung got a huge hand to the ball, to knock it out for a corner.

Following that penalty save, and further substitutions, Jeonbuk really began to turn up the heat. There was still 15 minutes to go when replacement Jeon Jin-woo danced his way around several Daejeon players to win a corner. At this moment, it felt like Daejeon would need to score again to guarantee the victory. In this league, where late goals are the norm, surely one wouldn't be enough.

Jeonbuk, strangely, looked out of ideas as the half wore on. Even the crowd behind the goals went into a lull, comprehensively out sung by the Daejeon faithful. Perhaps they were waiting for the players to inject some energy into the game, but it was flat, very flat, from the home team.

With time running out, Jeonju Castle was rocked by a second Daejeon goal. And what a beauty it was. Anton, a second half change, marauded forward, laid on a perfect assist for Kim Jun-beom who rounded, and side footed home from the tightest angle. Game over. The home fans left early, dejected. Party time in the opposite end.

We won't know until the end of the season how significant moments like that are, but Daejeon might just have played themselves out of trouble with a stunning away performance to claim three fully deserved points.

Line ups

Jeonbuk Hyundai:

(71) Kim Jun-hong; (17) An Hyun-beom, (4) Park Jin-seob (c), (26) Hong Jeong-ho, (66) Kim Tae-hyeon; (30) Andrigo, (91) Han Kook-young, (19) Nana Boateng,  (33) Jeon Byung-kwan; (10) Song Min-kyu; (8) Lee Yeong-jae.

Substitutes:

(1) Kim Jeong-hoon, (44) Kim Ha-jun, (21) Park Chang-woo, (6) Lee Soo-bin, (27) Moon Seon-min, (16) Park Jae-yong, (18) Jeon Jin-woo, (97) Kim Jin-gyu, (11) Lee Seung-woo.

Daejeon Hana:

(1) Lee Chang-geun; (22) Oh Jae-suk, (33) Lee Jung-taek, (4) Kim Hyun-woo, (95) Kim Moon-hwan; (77) Yun Do-young, (44) Lee Soon-min, (2) Bobsin (47) Choi Geon-joo; (14) Kim Jun-beom (10) Masatoshi Ishida.

Substitutes:

(25) Lee Jun-seo, (98) Anton Kryvotsiuk, (55) Kim Min-woo, (71) Kang Yoon-sung, (15) Lim Deok-geun (89) Kelvin, (11) Kim In-gyun, (70) Kim Hyeon-uk (17) Cheon Seong-hoon.

Up next

Jeonbuk Motors head to Seogwipo next weekend for a meeting with Jeju United. Every game is vital now but a Jeonbuk victory could remove the fear of relegation but also drag Jeju back into the scrap.

Daejeon are back at their World Cup Stadium on Sunday. Daegu FC, ahead of Daejeon in the table, will be the visitors for what amounts to one of many relegation 6-pointers over the next month.

Best player: Victor BobsinAttendance: 18,261