Sept 30, 2012
In the debut start for Celta Vigo, Park Chu-Young showed a promising performance, yet the game concluded with a frustrating 2-1 away loss to Granada on Sunday. Celta blew the match seemingly in the initial 17 minutes, giving up a penalty kick and a defensive lapse leading to a Torje goal in that short span of time. Celta tried to wrest control of the game, with Iago Blades starting a potential comeback with an impressive goal in the 20th minute. The Celtic dominance was overwhelming at times, but unsuccessful. I hate to use this analogy, but it was almost like a deja vu performance of the last 30 minutes of yesterday’s Manchester United v Tottenham match, Celta taking the Man U role of dominating, getting tantalizingly close to scoring, chance after chance, but ultimately denied. Post game stats indicated Celta Vigo with an overwhelming 63% share of ball possession. Park put in a decent performance and managed to find places along the front to provide danger for the Granada defense. He along with the rest of CV had their share of chances to equalize; near the end the of the match, Park had 2 incredibly tangible shots -but 8 yards out, his clear on goal opportunity in the 85 minute sailed high. Another Chu-Young shot 3 minutes later nearly slid to the far post, but Granada’s Tono barely got a hand on it to knock it out of bounds. For another perspective, blogger Santiago Perez has his take on the match here.
For Sunday’s Tavern Kickaround, we’re gonna keep it short but hopefully enlightening.
Ki Sung-Yeung and Swansea lost to Peter Crouch and Stoke yesterday by a score of 2-0, their 3rd Premier League loss in a row. Few consolations: Ki was ‘one Swansea player who could possibly be exempt from any criticism,’ according to broadcast commentaries. Ki started in the midfield, but as cracks developed in Swansea’s defense, Ki had to track back more throughout the game. At the risk of sounding like a broken record these past several reports -once again, Ki turns out to be a bright spot in an otherwise rudderless ship for the Swans. And a worrying trend is starting to develop – could boss Ladrup be tempted to once again place Ki in a centerback role for the Welsh team? That would of course waste his talents as a midfielder, and there is now some anguish amongst armchair managers throughout Swansea-land as to what the best course of action might be to get the Swans from losing their midtable perch in the Premier League.
Kim Bo-Kyung was substituted in for Craig Bellamy in the last 20 minutes of Cardiff’s 3-0 win over N-Power rivals Blackpool on Saturday. This is his longest time on the pitch for the Bluebirds, his home debut and according to BigSoccer forum poster CJay who was at the game, “…he definitely looked a good player. He seems to have very good control of the ball and plays quick passes as soon as he can -he tried to get in good positions all the time and was constantly calling for the ball.
The more he plays the better and more adapted he will become, but he definitely didn’t look out of place and coped well with any physicality thrown at him. A good showing overall.” Below is a short video of “Kimbo” (as he’s affectionately nicknamed) subbing on.
Lee Chung-Yong got in the last 10 minutes of Bolton’s 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace Saturday, with the Lee almost getting an equalizer. ESPN Soccernet reports: “The hosts went close to equalising when substitute Chung-Yong Lee sent a fizzing shot whistling just over the upright but Bolton were unable to create anything better than this as Dougie Freedman’s men held on for victory.”
Ji Dong-Won didn’t make the 18 man roster for Sunderland, as Steven Fletcher’s 51st minute strike downs Wigan 1-0.
Son Heung-Min played 90 minutes in Hamburg SV’s 1-0 victory over Hannover 96. Rafael Van der Vaart is the assist machine, creating the chance with Artjoms Rudnevs finishing with the games’ only goal. This is Hamburg’s 2nd win in a row, and their 2nd match in which they beat a top 5 team in the Bundesliga.
And this morning in the U-16 AFC championship, South Korea‘s future Taeguk Warriors endured a shocking upset by Uzbekistan, losing 4-6 in Penalty Kicks. There was immense excitement a moment earlier when they got a very late stoppage time equalizer by Hwang Hee Chan, his 5th goal of the tournament. Too bad he can’t continue to rack up the goals, as the wacky tournament rules at the qualifying rounds excluded extra time: the game went right to penalty kicks! There the Uzbek goalkeeper blocked Chan’s shot and the hero of the Taeguk Warriors was denied. Good experience for the crew, and hope to see what more they can do in the future.
Oh yeah, can’t forget, Vancouver’s Lee Young-Pyo fought hard and almost got 3 points on northwest rivals Seattle last night. It ended in a scoreless draw. Vancouver is holding the 5th and last playoff spot for the fall MLS Cup.
Tavern will be unmanned for awhile to work on the basement. There’s an ‘egie’ on the way, so priorities have shifted for the moment. Be on the lookout for Park Ji-Sung and QPR will be shooting for their first win in the Premier League on Monday afternoon. They face off against West Ham United at 3pm EST. There are some N-Power Championship games midweek, Tuesday Cardiff and Bolton both in action.
Per usual, thanks for the thorough and insightful coverage of the Korean players in action. Also, congrats on the “egie”. I too have a little one coming this December, so I’m doing my share of home-improvement projects. Anyway, your blog is much appreciated.
Hey -thank you for that compliment! No goals by any KNT player, but that compliment made my weekend! Congratulations to you to on a Dec egie! It’s a bit far to Chicago, but we’ll have to set up play dates for the young ‘uns if time and distance permits!