Just A Few Things: JDT Vs. Pohang Steelers

Defence Carved Open

There were absolutely no complaints about how this match went this time around from Johor Darul Takzim’s (JDT) perspective. Pohang’s quick transitions and their neat passing game have got the JDT defence in a mess as there was no sense of shape prior to the goals conceded by the Southern Tigers.

Pohang’s build-up to the first goal was breathaking as their direct passing coming from the back led to Go Young-joon finding the run of Lee Seung-mo, who then finished the passage of play superbly. This could’ve been prevented had Aidil unnecessarily get sucked in towards Go as Matt Davies had him covered. As a result, a much clearer passing lane opened for Go to play that pass to Lee.

The 2nd goal was played to perfection. With a number of JDT players looking to block Pohang’s progression on the left, Kang Sang-woo and Boris Tashchy played an excellent one-two that allowed Kang to break free and attack the space vacated with the ball following Tashchy’s neat flick. Kang then coolly converted his shot past Farizal Marlias for the second.

By the time the JDT defence settled, the damage has already been done. And they could count themselves fortunate they didn’t concede at least two more goals with Lee Seung-mo not getting a clean header to get his second goal late in the first half and another header coming from the corner hitting the post late in the second half.

Pohang’s Answer To Natxo

JDT would always count upon Natxo to set the tempo and winning the ball back as the holding midfielder. However, Pohang has their own holding midfielder who was robust all over the centre of the park. Shin Jin-ho, who captained Pohang’s fierce rivals Ulsan Hyundai to AFC Champions League glory last year, completely kept things under control in the middle of the park for the Steelers. His heat map showed how much he was all over the midfield

Shin kept things simple from midfield by making short passes that would break through JDT’s own midfield. Shin had 83 touches, 87.1% passing accuracy, 5/8 accurate long balls, won four ground duels and made two tackles. It was a job well done for the ex-Ulsan man as he was subbed off on 75 minutes.

Full-Backs Kept Busy

The shape of the defence would’ve been worse without La’vere Corbin-Ong. The left-back was absent for JDT’s last two games due to perhaps a minor injury issue he picked up in the Nagoya Grampus match last week. His return was timely given that his understudy, Azrif Nasrulhaq, is suspended for accumulated yellow cards and he never missed a step. The left-back was his usual solid self, neutralizing Pohang’s attacks down on the right and kept tabs on any Pohang attacker looking to run on the underlaps. It’s because of how solid Corbin-Ong was that Pohang would attack more on the left as their highest concentration of play came on that side compared to the right.

As a result, right-back Matt Davies was often kept busy as Pohang focused on the left-wing. Save for the 2nd goal, Davies defensive contributions fell under the radar as he did the best he can to keep Pohang’s attacks on the left at bay. Davies was the best JDT player according to Sofascore with a rating of 7.2. Throughout the match, he made one clearance, blocked one shot, five interceptions, five tackles, 73 touches, an 89.1% passing accuracy, 2/3 long balls completed and won 8/12 ground duels.It was a harworking day for Davies, but he surely wishes he can do more from an attacking front.

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A Gap Of Quality

The thing is, JDT didn’t get overwhelmed. They had a fair share of possession throughout the match, holding the ball 47% of the time as they looked to find a goal for themselves. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t. Pohang’s defensive structure made it difficult for the Southern Tigers to get consistently close to goal as a repeat of what happened in the last match happened again. Plenty of the ball, but no attacking threat.

Pohang keeper Kang Hyeon-mu once again had a largely easy night. JDT only had four shots and none on-target while Pohang had 12 shots with four on-target. The result though could’ve been different had Safawi Rasid’s free-kick not hit the post where Kang Hyeon-mu was left scrambling. It also doesn’t help JDT that Leandro Velzaquez, who has been their best player since the tournament, was missing from the matchday squad as his engine and creativity centrally was sorely missed.

Pohang were also far superior in defence. Along with continuing the press that forced JDT to go back to square one, their defensive structure made it difficult for JDT’s attackers to receive the ball with the way the Southern Tigers were playing as well as an immense Shin Jin-ho pulling the strings in midfield. While JDT did their best to make an account for themselves on the continental level after three games in, the pair of Pohang games showed that they still have much work to do.