Suwon FC’s soccer starts in the second half. The team has been winning games by playing organized defense in the first half, keeping as few goals as possible, and then looking to score in the second half. Similarly, the team moved up to fourth place by catching the K League 1 leaders Pohang Steelers, who showed a stronger second half.
Suwon FC won their K League 1 2024 Round 13 home match against Pohang 1-0 on September 19 at Suwon Sports Complex, thanks to a late goal from Jung Seung-won. With the win, Suwon FC moved up to 21 points, dropping Gangwon FC 바카라사이트 one spot to fourth place.
Aside from the scoreline, it was a difficult game for Suwon FC to win. They had just 36% possession and more than twice as many shots on goal with 22 to Suwon’s 10. Pohang also had far more passes (608) than Suwon FC (368), and their passing success rate was high at 90%. However, Suwon FC took advantage of the deficit in terms of player costs and counterattacks.
It’s a dramatic change from the previous season. Suwon FC conceded the most goals in the history of the K League last season, but they managed to stay in the top division with a lot of goals. However, under Kim Eun-joong, the team has placed more emphasis on minimizing goals. While the team has won fewer games in a blowout fashion, it has also conceded fewer goals.
The pattern of defending tightly in the first half and then winning the game in the second half has become a formula. Including this game, Suwon FC has scored a total of 15 goals this season, 14 of which have come in the second half. Four of those goals have come in second-half stoppage time. These extra-time goals have given them 10 points (3 wins, 1 draw).
It’s a good win for the team, especially since it came against a strong Pohang side. Pohang had scored 15 of their 19 goals in the previous round in the second half. However, they were unable to find the back of the net in the second half as coach Kim Eun-joong thickened his defense. After Pohang coach Park Tae-ha brought on the serviceable Georges to pair with Lee Ho-jae, Kim switched to a back three with center back Jackson in place of striker Jung Jae-min to strengthen the back door. Pohang stepped up their crossing attacks, but were ultimately blocked by the thick defense.
In soccer, no matter how well you defend, you can’t win if you don’t score goals. The key to Suwon FC’s victory was Lee Seung-woo, who Kim himself called a “game changer. Lee has been used mainly as a late joker this season. He has started three times and come on as a substitute seven times and already has six goals and two assists. He comes on when his opponents are running out of gas and has been a force to be reckoned with. In this game, Lee came on as a substitute at the start of the second half and set up the winning goal for Jung Seung-won with a sharp pass.
While some have suggested that Lee Seung-woo should be given more playing time, Kim has no intention of changing his plans. Kim admits that he would love to play him for the full 90 minutes, but that’s a tough pill to swallow when you don’t have the weight of a foreign player in the attacking lineup. Instead, he made it clear that he would use Lee Seung-woo in moments where his offense could shine more and take advantage. After the game, Kim said, “In the first half, we played the way we wanted to play. In the second half, we put on the ‘game changers’. We created scoring chances, and Jung Seung-won scored well. They did a good job of following the game plan,” he said, giving credit to his players.
