Just A Few Things Gwangju FC Vs. FC Seoul

Credit: Naver

Taking Them On

Currently under poor form, Gwangju looked anything but that against an FC Seoul side looking to continue their resurgence. Gwangju had plenty of positive energy in theri attack as they took on defenders looking to get further inside on Seoul’s final third. They mostly attack down on the right to get their tenacious winger Eom Won-sang more involved. Even Felipe dropped deep a little bit to help build up the attacks and took on a few defenders on his own.

Despite all their dominance and incisiveness, Gwangju was left frustrated with a goalless draw instead of a much deserved victory. They had ten shots with five of them on-target, but a number of factors made the scoreline finish like it first started. Felipe, Eom Won-sang and Doo Hyun-suk all had chances to put one in but to no avail. However, if there’s one player who deserves to be on the scoresheet, it’s...

A Willy-ng Player

It was another Brazilian perhaps who felt deserve to be on the scoresheet. Willyan, deployed on the left and perhaps Gwangju should’ve got him more involved, got the best chance of all when he drifted inside the box to receive a brilliant through pass with a certain FC Seoul keeper to beat. But the keeper in question made himself bigger to deny the Brazilian. Willyan would usually drift to the center whenever Felipe is on the wing to keep possession.

Willyan had so many chances after that one-on-one effort but the ball just wouldn’t get into the goal. It’s not just the Seoul keeper who kept frustrating the winger, a combination of ‘all hands-on-deck’ defending along with misfires after misfires left Willyan baffled on what it took to score. But the most agonizing of them all was into stoppage time. Willyan beat a defender on the left as he opened space for himself to shoot. Keeper was well beaten, but the ball incredibly curled away from the target.

Han-Been There To Save Seoul

On paper, it looks like FC Seoul is expected to take three points off 10th placed Gwangju given how they have surged. But despite their best efforts, they unfortunately reverted to the side that struggled so much under previous head coach Choi Yong-soo. They dominated possession but not only they struggled to create any notable chances, but they also had to deal with a rocky Gwangju defence. Seoul only got two shots away and they never looked like scoring. This doesn’t look like the Seoul side got the wins against Gangwon and Sangju Sangmu where they looked so convincing.

However they need to thank their man between the goalposts because if it weren’t for their keeper Yang Han-been, they wouldn’t have got away with a point. Han-been commanded his presence very well inside his own box and read almost every situation well when he rushed out multiple times to perfection that prevented Willyan and others from getting a shot away. He even pulled a decent save or two from shots that looked like going in. All in all, a great performance for Yang Han-been who is my pick for the man-of-the-match.

Getting Dragged Downwards?

There’s another reason why Gwangju will be a lot more frustrated with the result. Not only failing to take their chances but they also could find themselves getting dragged into an unwanted relegation battle instead for a top six battle spot. Results elsewhere have gone against them when it comes to the top six, but the most eye-catching of them was Incheon’s 2nd consecutive victory following a 1-0 win over a hapless Suwon Samsung Bluewings side.It also doesn’t help that history favors Incheon having done the great escape so many times. But for now, Gwangju are more closer to the top six than the relegation zone as they are in a comfortable six-point gap over Incheon and perhaps Suwon losing is a saving grace. But the next round in midweek may not be as kind to Gwangju and Suwon as they take on league leaders Ulsan Hyundai and third-placed Sangju Sangmu respectively next while Incheon may fancy their chances over an off-form Gangwon FC side.