Acting FC Seoul head coach Kim Jin-kyu expressed his disappointment at not getting a result despite dominating the match.
Seoul conceded a goal to Gwangju striker Heo Yul in the fourth minute of the first half and lost 0-1 in the 30th round of the Hana OneQ K League 2023 against Gwangju at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sunday. With the three points, Gwangju remained in third place with 13 wins, 9 draws and 8 losses and 48 points. Seoul, on the other hand, failed to overtake them with 11 wins, 10 draws, and 9 losses for 43 points.
Seoul suffered its first loss under acting head coach Kim Jin-gyu. In the two games that Kim Jin-gyu has played since taking over as acting head coach, the team has won one and drawn one. The team was riding high on momentum, especially after winning a supermatch against arch-rivals Suwon Samseong in the previous round. However, their momentum was halted when they were stunned by Gwangju, who were unbeaten in the head-to-head this season.
After falling behind in the first four minutes of the match, Seoul was unable to turn the game around. Seoul played Ki Sung-yueng and Osmar in the center backs against the Gwangju duo of Heo Yul and Thomas, but were unable to cope with Gwangju’s strong forward pressure.
In the fourth minute, Seoul allowed Gwangju to break down the left flank, and the ball went straight to Heo Yul in the center. Despite having a defender in front of her, Heo Yul accurately struck the corner of the goal with her left foot. Goalkeeper Choi Chul-won was unable to react.
Seoul then pushed Gwangju for the rest of the match. They brought on more attackers, including Ilyuchenko, Willian, and Ji Dong-won. However, despite recording 18 shots and nine on target, they were unable to score a goal and send the home fans home with a victory.
In the post-match interview, acting head coach Kim Jin-kyu expressed his disappointment. “I’m really sorry for the loss as many fans came to see us. The players played hard until the end. But we should have shown the fans a home win. “The players played hard for the entire 90 minutes. I wasn’t good enough. I tried to create chances to score goals, but it didn’t work out. I’m sorry to the players,” he said.
On his aggressive substitutions in the second half, he said, “I brought on Ilyuchenko, Willian, and Han Seung-gyu because I analyzed the opponent and saw that their stamina would drop between the 60th and 70th minute. “However, we conceded a goal early on and the game went downhill from there. I’m grateful that the players played until the end,” he said, thanking them for their hard work.
“I’m disappointed that we were unable to score after pushing Gwangju hard. We came out aggressively today, even taking our center back off the bench. We wanted to score a lot of goals, but it didn’t happen. I tried my best to score goals. I tried my best to score, but I think the defense and goalkeeper did a good job,” he said.바카라사이트
“I wanted to play aggressively for 90 minutes, and I wanted to continue the game by changing players rather than making tactical changes. I wanted to make quick substitutions when the players were running out of energy and continue the game tactics, so I made quick substitutions. I also have meetings with the players and tell them how many minutes they will play. I tell them, “Even if you play 60 minutes, I want you to give me the physical strength to play 90 minutes. I think we’re doing a good job with that,” he explained.
On Ki Sung-yueng, who reached the 200-match milestone for Seoul with the win, he said, “There are a lot of legends in Seoul, but Ki Sung-yueng has done great things. He played an important role overseas as well,” he said, adding, “I feel like we have a connection because he leads the team well, even though the team is in a tough situation. I hope that he will always make many achievements in Seoul,” he said, adding that he hopes he can continue to play like this for a long time.