Just A Few Things: Pohang Steelers Vs. JDT

Pohang’s Press

JDT had trouble playing through Pohang’s pressing from the front. Every time they tried to play from the back, JDT would find Pohang players setting off to close them down. And if they aren’t, Pohang’s disciplined 4-4-2 shape made it hard for them to get the ball to the midfield with their forwards keeping a good distance

Not only that, even if JDT did get the ball past the pressing forwards, other Pohang players would close the space surrounding the midfield and it resulted in Natxo Insa getting shackled and unable to control the tempo like he always does. When you put aside the uproar in the first 45 minutes, Pohang was the better side as JDT had struggled to break through. Their starting line-up by playing four midfielders may have contributed to it as well.

JDT had a better grip in the second half as they had more possession and shots. Despite having control for large parts of the second half, they haven’t created a big chance throughout the whole match and 8/12 of their shots came from outside the box. Pohang keeper Kang Hyeon-mu basically had a relatively easy night other than the unfortunate (From his view) goal conceded.

Penalties Aplenty

Of course, the talking point will be the penalties awarded to Pohang. There were four goals for Pohang and three of them were penalties as Pohang emerged winners over Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) in a match that had a degree of controversy, leading to JDT’s downward spiral. The controversy began with the awarding of the first penalty. Leandro Velazquez (More on him later) was judged by Australian referee Shaun Evans to have fouled Go Young-joon as the winger menacingly was getting in the box. Replays showed though it shouldn’t have been a penalty as Young-joon was tripped up by his own legs. Nevertheless, Boris Tashchy put away the first penalty to equalize.

The 2nd penalty was given thanks to Mauricio needlessly going in on Mario Kvesic and although there was a possibility that Kvesic landed on the Brazilian’s foot, you can understand why it was given in real-time. Farizal Marlias did guess the right way to deny Kang Sang-woo, but the penalty had to be retaken as replays showed Farizal didn’t have either of his feet on the goal line. The penalty is retaken and Sang-woo this time did score.

The third penalty was more clearer than the first as Matt Davies clumsily fouled defender Alex Grant late in the match. Up stepped Lee Sang-hyub who scored convincingly to wrap up the three points in a chaotic match.

Velazquez & Arif Continues To Be Consistent

Perhaps the only bright spot for JDT throughout this whole match is their Argentine midfielder, Leandro Velazquez. He once again was all over the field given his heat map and did well to carry the ball in position to score the opener thanks to a wicked deflection. The Argentinian had 69 touches, an 87.8% pass accuracy, one key pass, 2/2 long balls, 2/2 dribble attempts and had four shots overall. It was another rather fruitful game for the midfielder, though he will feel hard done by not just the result but also the penalty he was judged to have conceded.

As for Arif Aiman, he continues to show the courage to take on opponents down on the wings. He made five dribbling attempts and succeeded in four of them. One of them caused Pohang to go all hands on deck in their own box as Arif’s cutback was diverted to Natxo’s path at the far post, but the midfielder couldn’t keep his header down. The young player continues to exude confidence, though with only 32 touches throughout the 90 minutes along with an unorthodox line-up set by head coach Benjamin Mora, he needs to get the ball more.

Precarious Position

JDT picked up five yellow cards in this match, though at least half of them shouldn’t have been given in the first place with Shane Lowry and Azrif Nasrulhaq were harshly given one early on in the match. Azrif as well as Maurcio were given their 2nd accumulated yellow cards and in the process, will miss the reverse fixture Vs. Pohang. In Azrif’s case, it’s a massive problem for JDT on the left-back side as first-choice La’vere Corbin Ong is still out and there’s no news if he can play in the group stages again.

Not only JDT are missing two key players for the next match, but they also have TEN players on yellow cards. The list of players who are one yellow away will perhaps unnerve the fans given that the players in danger of suspension are important to the side, especially when there are three more games to go. They now have to be careful not to be callous (Along with the hope that the referee doesn’t get card happy for even the softest of fouls). Otherwise, there will be more headaches for the Southern Tigers.

THIS ARTICLE IS POWERED BY CYBERLYNX INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: EDUCATION FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM