Suwon back in style

Suwon Bluewings put the disappointment of Wednesday’s loss to Jubilo Iwata behind them with an 8-1 thrashing of PSM Makassar in the second round of matches in the eastern quarter-finals of the Asian Club Championship.

Seven first-half goals not only gave the Koreans the healthy goal difference they had been looking for after their 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Japanese side but also put their hpes of winning the title back on track ahead of their crucial clash with China’s Shandong Luneng on Sunday.

Suwon’s demolition of the hosts and reigning Indonesian champions started as early as the sixth minute when Seo Jung-won claimed his first after a quick free-kick by Ko Jong-su found Sandro Cardoso on the right, the Brazilian rolled the ball on to Park Kun-ha who found Seo free, leaving the international to shoot home from the edge of the area.

Five minutes later it was 2-0, Sandro this time converting from a perfectly-weighted cross from the left by Seo, the forward stroking the ball in at the far post.

The third came in the 18th minute, this time from a corner on the PSM left. Ko floated the ball in and Sandro hit a side-foot volley into the back of the net after goalkeeper Hendro Kartiko and his defence miss-read the flight of the cross.

With Ko, Denis Laktionov, Seo and Sandro in full control of the game, it was only a matter of time before Suwon added to their tally. Within seven minutes of the third, Suwon were five up.

Seo hit his second after a perfect cross by Ko in the 23rd minute and then completed his hat-trick two minutes later after Kartiko had blocked Park’s initial header of Laktionov’s corner on the goal line.

The Koreans then eased off but were soon awoken from their slumbers in the 35th minute by a mistake by goalkeeper Sin Bum-chul, who mistimed his jump to claim Ronny Ririn’s punt forward and Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto raced in to score into an empty net.

Within two minutes, though, the Koreans had restored their five goal advantage, substitute Seo Dong-won crossing to fellow replacement Cho Hyun-do, who touched the ball on for Park to score.

The problems increased for PSM when defender Suwandi Hadi Siswoyo was sent off for hauling down Seo Jung-won after he turned the Makassar defence in the 40th minute and, five minutes later, it was 7-1 to the Koreans when Ko converted from the penalty spot after being clumsily bundled over by Cameroonian defender Joseph Lewono.

Understandably, Suwon’s second half performance lacked any urgency and a lacklustre 45 minutes was only lit up by a superb goal by Sanyo MVP Ko in the 79th minute.

The 22-year-old Korean international lobbed Kartiko from fully 30 yards after controlling Cho’s long ball forward with his first touch and then instinctively went for goal, sending the ball over the sprawling Indonesian keeper.

from AFC website