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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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'Asian stage newcomer'Gwangju FC beat Malaysian powerhouse Johor Darul Takjim to win three consecutive games.
Gwangju, led by head coach Lee Jung-hyo, won 3-1 against Johor at 7 p.m. on the 22nd thanks to Asani's two goals and one assist special performance and Johor defender Park Joon-hyung's own goal in the third round of the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) group stage of the 2024-2025 season at Yongin Mir Stadium.
Earlier, Yokohama F in Japan.Gwangju, which won 7-3 and 1-0 against Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale, respectively, won all three games and maintained its lead with nine points. Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli, and Gwangju are the only teams that have won all three games in East and West Asia.
Gwangju, which won the team's first Asian ticket with its third-place performance in the K League 1 last season, increased its chances of advancing to the round of 16 given to the top eight of the 12 teams in East Asia. In the ACL group stage, each team plays eight games to determine the ranking.
Asani tied the hat trick against Yokohama and the winning goal against Kawasaki to lead the scoring alone with a monster scoring ability that scored a total of six goals in three games. While representing Albania at the Euro 2024 stage, he is showing his 'special skills' on the Asian stage without regret.
Coach Lee faced a variable of playing his home game at Yongin Mir Stadium, a neutral stadium more than 250 kilometers away from Gwangju, due to grass problems at his home stadium, Gwangju World Cup Stadium. In a pre-press conference on the 21st, coach Lee complained, `There is no worse home stadium than Gwangju.'
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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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Gwangju put in a large number of key players in a tight schedule of playing the league and ACLE at the same time. In the 4-2-3-1 formation, Lee Kun-hee was the one-top and Shin Chang-moo and Oh Soo-sung Asani were placed in the second line of attack. Jung Ho-yeon and Park Tae-joon took charge of the midfield, and Cho Sung-kwon, Byun Jun-su, Kim Kyung-jae, and Lee Min-ki set up a four-back. Kim Kyung-min wore goalkeeper gloves.
Johor started Korean defender Park Joon-hyung, who played for Suwon Samsung in the past, and put striker Hesse Rodriguez on the bench.
The rain, which had fallen hard until just before the game, began to stop slowly around kickoff. In the third minute of the first half, Gwangju gave Gwangju the lead by scoring a lightning first goal in the first attack of the day. Asani, who received an afternoon pass from the right diagonal point in the opponent's penalty box, quickly swung his left foot without any help closing. The ball that left Asani's tiptoe split the left corner of the goal.
He scored an additional goal in the 6th minute of the first half before the opponent even cleared up his battle line. Asani pressed Johor defender Baharuddin, who caught the ball while raising the line to near the center line. Confused, Baharuddin missed the ball due to a ball control mistake. Asani, who snatched the ball, ran to the opponent's box at once, emptied the goal, and lightly scored the goal to avoid the opponent's goalkeeper who ran out. Asani has shown remarkable concentration, scoring six goals with eight shots so far.
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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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| The match between Gwangju and Johor on the 22nd. Photo courtesy = Korea Professional Football Federation |
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Gwangju, which led by two goals in six minutes, was dragged away while giving the opponent the lead for the remaining 40 minutes of the first half. Goalkeeper Kim Kyung-min hit Arif Ayman's mid-range shot with his fingertips in the 13th minute. However, in the 28th minute set-piece situation, he eventually gave up the loss. When Baharuddin headed in front of the goal, there was no Gwangju player marking anyone.
In the 34th minute, Shin Chang-moo scored with a header in Gwangju's corner kick, but the score was nullified by the decision that Kim Kyung-jae committed a pushing foul on Johor just before the header. Gwangju faced a crisis of losing an equalizer in the third minute of extra time in the first half. However, Kim Kyung-min escaped the crisis by saving Park Joon-hyung's header.
Immediately after the end of the first half, coach Lee walked quickly to the stadium with an electronic board and criticized the afternoon. It's an action that you can feel that you didn't like the content of the game. Sure enough. Coach Lee had a one-goal lead, but at half-time, he replaced Lee Kun-hee's Cho Sung-kwon with Heo Yul and Kim Jin-ho, respectively, trying to change the front line and full-back position.
In the eighth minute of the second half, Johor's Arivas Paso equalized with a right-footed shot from the front of the arc, but it was nullified by an offside foul that took place during the scoring process. In the 12th minute of the second half, head coach Lee called in Shin Chang-moo and put in Choi Kyung-rok and Lee Hee-kyun to strengthen the second line. Johor did not withdraw a replacement card until Gwangju replaced four people. 21 min Iker Unda Barrena's shot went off the post.
For Gwangju, which failed to find a way out without producing its unique color, the tense moment continued. Johor took out Araujo and put in Bergson in the 32nd minute of the second half, pulling the reins of the attack. Johor continued to aim for Gwangju's defensive back space. In the 41st minute of the second half, he put in Hesse and Muniz and pulled out the last card.
Did Johor have Asani's presence because he was concentrating on the attack. In the 43rd minute of the second half, Asani drilled the opponent's markman from the right and crossed his left foot toward the post at the gate. The ball hit Heo Yul's forehead was deflected off Park Joon-hyung's leg and cut into the net. It was recorded as Park Joon-hyung's own goal. The game ended with Gwangju's 3-1 victory.
yoonjinman@sportschosun.com
