Gyeongnam FC vs Gimcheon Sangmu K-League2 round 38

 On 11/11, there was a K League 2 Round 38 match between Gyeongnam FC and Gimcheon Sangmu at the Changwon Soccer Center.

I decided to join the newly launched G Members because they were running an event where cheerleaders were giving out Pepero snacks if you joined. (Not because the cheerleaders were giving them out)

Upon joining, I found that G Members is a platform that consolidates various features such as ticket reservations and event participation.

They gave me G Points upon registration, and it seems I can use them as discount coupons for mobile ticketing.

purchasing an E section ticket at the gate costs 10,000 won for adults, but through G Members, it's around 8,000 won plus a 1,000 won fee, making it about 1,000 won cheaper. It's great for keeping records,win rates and for cheaper expenses in the long run.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with a 50% win rate seemingly acknowledged.

Gyeongnam FC Starting Lineup:

Surprisingly, the player who played the entire previous game as a right full-back, scoring the winning goal and winning the Man of the Match award, Jun-jae Lee , started as a forward this time. I initially thought there might be a mistake in the lineup, but he played as a forward until later replaced by Hyang-gi Cho.

He seemed a little awkward playing up front, and despite trying to make use of the explosive speed of the Gyeongnam forward players against Gimcheon Sangmu, there were shortcomings in dealing with the physicality of the opposing defenders and the coordination in the midfield.

Gleyson and Castro started on the bench, raising some doubts, but their second-half substitutions proved to be strategic and impactful.

Gimcheon Sangmu Starting Lineup:

Throughout the game, Du-jae Won played a significant role in controlling the game from a deep between the center-backs position, showcasing his impressive long-passing abilities. However, his defensive contribution was lacking, and he didn't seem to have a significant impact on stopping Gyeongnam's attacks. Shows that he's still got quite some areas in his game to improve if he wants to go to Europe after his military services

In the 45th minute,

Gimcheon Sangmu made a substitution to address the attacking imbalance, bringing in Min-jun Kim  for Jun-Seok Lee.

#20 Jun-Seok Lee whom I thought had an excellent first half exploting Gyeongnam's veteran joo-Sung Woo, but I guess the manager thought something was off.

The game was dominated by Gimcheon Sangmu in the first half, and thanks to the outstanding performance of Gyeongnam's goalkeeper, Go Dong-min, they barely avoided conceding.

In the 61st minute, after a quite unlucky goal (a player was down)

substitutions were made to shake up the fatigued Gimcheon Sangmu defense,

3 subs Gleyson, Castro and Hyang-Ki Cho made an appearance for Min-Hyeok Lee, Hyeon-Jin Seol and Joo-Seong Woo

Which put back Jun-Jae Lee back to his more natural position of right full back in Gyeongnam's search for that equalizer

Chi-In Jung came on as a right winger for Byeong-Chan Choi as a joker like expected with him having the highest goal, succesive dribbles, shots per 90 in the league

Joon-ha Yoo, who replaced the injured Jae-hyun Mo.

Jae-Hyun Mo showcased impressive skills, combining speed, passing accuracy, and mental strength like I saw last match and He even showed that he could make killer passes to the other strikers.

He also seemed to have improved on his mentality and was seek fully focused keeping his head in the game

He will sure be a powerfull asset for Gyeongnam in their way to promotion

in the 77th minute they put on Dong-Hyun Kim for the U20 World-cup scorer Young-Joon Lee

He showed amazing promise in the U20 world cup scoring in South Korea's 2-1 win against France and He got one in the bag too this match.

But you could tell his age in his plays and hopes he can improve more upon his talent.

also showed great fans service despite not getting the result he might have wanted

In the 89th minute Gimcheon Sangmu tried to get that winning goal after conceding a left footed deflection from Gyeongnam's left back Min-Seo Park

by changing two players in the midfield

Bon-Cheol Koo and Hyun-Wook Kim came on for

Jin-Gyu Kim and Hyun-Mook Kang

Hyun-Mook Kang showed glimpses of why he's the top scorer and has the most assists in the team but just couldn't break away Gyeongnam's defence

Seeing him giving autographs and taking pictures with every fan in his military uniform showed that he's a class player on and off the pitch

in the 91st minute while Gyeongnam were clinching on their 1 point

Min-Seo Park who got injured while attending to his more defensive duties after the equalizer was subbed off for Min-Ki Lee

who showed just enough class to keep the score line 1-1

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, affecting Busan IPark's title challenge. If Busan wins on 11/12 at 18:30 against Jeonnam away , they can secure the league title.

and Gyeongnam have virtually secured a playoff spot with this hard-fought draw.

Go Dong-min, Gyeongnam's goalkeeper,

was named Man of the Match. Despite conceding a somewhat unlucky goal, his overall performance was outstanding. But apart from his spectacular save that saved Gyeongnam, he displayed calm ball control and precise passing, reminiscent of former Inter Milan player Andrea Onana. He's set to be on the radars for K-League1 clubs in their search for a goalkeeper.

Two players Dong-Min Go (GK) and Min-Seo Park

reminded me of my friend's words with their amazing performance

"Either Gyeongnam go up or he goes up"

Despite the impressive individual performances, Gimcheon Sangmu showed why they fell off as title challengers with their defence looking shabby not being able to catch a single Gyeongnam winger or overlapping wingback

Like Sir Alex Ferguson said, "Attacking wins you matches, but Defence wins you titles"

I finally got a chance to see Ki-Hyeon Seol. a former Premier league player having played for Fulham and Reading.

He seemed to be a little bit more relaxed after salvaging a point from this match and taking a step closer to promotion.

Also a shout out to #77 Min-Seo Park on his 100th K-League appearance and #15 Joo-Seong Woo on his 200th match at Gyeongnam! a one club man since 2014 (except for his military services)