"K-League Champion Ulsan Shocked 0-1 Defeat To Kawasaki At Home"
Sep 18, 2024
|
|
|
Ulsan HD coach Kim Pan-gon said, `Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) is a good team. I'll respect them and play, but I'll make sure to win as much as I'm home" he said. Kim Young-kwon is also ready to fight. I'll do my best to win," he stressed.
Coach Kim brought up the 4-3-3 system. Kim Min-woo and Kim Min-joon were located on the left and right, with Joo Min-kyu on the one-top. Matheus, Lee Kyu-sung and Jung Woo-young stood in the midfield. Lee Myung-jae, Kim Young-kwon, Hwang Seok-ho, and Yoon Il-rok breathed in the four-back. Cho Hyun-woo protects the goal.
But it was a tough first half. Ulsan opened with Kim Min-joon's first shot in the fifth minute of the first half. Kawasaki goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong was blocked, but it was enough to cool the opponent's bloodshed.
|
|
Coach Kim took out three replacement cards to change the atmosphere at the beginning of the second half. Minwoo Kim Minjun Lee Kyu-sung was removed and Rubik'sson, Arabidze, and Ataru were transfused.
Kawasaki, who seemed to be glistening early in the second half, took the lead again by cutting off the ball stem and taking control of the midfield. Ulsan's goal was opened in the 9th minute of the second half. Marcinho scored with a sensational right-footed curl from the left side of the penalty area.
Coach Kim reorganized the midfielder in the 16th minute of the second half by putting Ko Seung-beom instead of Matheus. Ulsan's attacks have also begun to pick up.
|
|
However, Ataru collapsed in the 34th minute of the second half. It was after I had already exhausted five replacement cards. Ataru stepped back after first aid but failed to run properly. It was a de facto numerical inferiority. Yago's ambitious left-footed shot was blocked by Jung Sung-ryong in extra time in the second half.
Ulsan HD, frustrated at the threshold of advancing to the finals last season, has begun a new journey to the top of Asia. But the first step was heavy. Ulsan lost 0-1 to Kawasaki in the first round of the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) League Stage in the 2024-2025 season at Munsu Football Stadium on the 18th.
|
|
The East Asian regional league stage will be held for about five months until Game 8 on February 19 next year. Each team will play four home and away games, a total of eight games. At the end of the league stage, the top eight teams in the East and West Asian leagues will advance to the round of 16.
Ulsan, which stood at the top of Asia in 2012 and 2020, challenged to reclaim the trophy for the first time in five years. Kawasaki is an ironical fate. It's the fourth consecutive year.
Ulsan tied Kawasaki 0-0 in the ACL round of 16 on September 14, 2021, and won 3-2 in the penalty shootout and succeeded in advancing to the quarterfinals. In 2022, it was held as a neutral match in Johor, Malaysia, in the wake of the COVID pandemic. It was in a group, and won 1 to 1 draw on April 15 and 3 to 2 on April 27.
Ulsan was also in the same group with Kawasaki last year. On 3 October 2023, they lost 0–1 away, but in the final match on 12 December, they scored two runs first and then scored a 2–2 draw.
This year's match was a defeat. In all six matches, the team was inferior to the other with one win, three draws and two losses (the penalty shootout was an official draw).
newsme@sportschosun.com
