By Pearse McLaughlin
South Korea run out comfortable 3-1 winners over Kuwait at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium courtesy of goals from man of the match Oh Se-Hun, returning captain Son Heung-Min and a late goal from super sub Bae Jun-Ho made sure of the victory. This victory sees South Korea go six clear of both Jordan and Iraq in Group B with both sides have got a game in hand to try and close that gap at the top of the table.
Juan Antonio Pizzi has gone with his tried and trusted 4-4-2 formation that saw his Kuwait side draw 2-2 away to Palestine last time out. In terms of personnel changes Kuwait has made wholesale changes as there are seven changes in total as in comes Khalid Al Rashidi, Sami Al Sanea, Al Enizi, Athbi Saleh, Mohammad Daham, Eid Al Rashedi and Moaath Al Dhafiri to replace Sulaiman Abdulghafoor, Rashed Al Dousari, Fahed Al Hajeri, Yousef Majed, Ahmad Al Dhefiri, Moath Al-Enezi and Yousef Nasser.
Hong Myung-Bo has gone with the tried and trusted 4-2-3-1 formation that saw South Korea triumph 3-2 over Iraq last time out. In terms of personnel changes South Korea has made just the solitary change as in comes the returning captain, Son Heung-Min to replace Bae Jun-Ho.
Breakthrough for the visitors as Oh Se-Hun opens the scoring after 10 minutes with an emphatic header which crashed in off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net. But credit has to go to Hwang In-Beom for his terrific cross from deep as he spotted the movement of Oh Se-Hun but saying he still had an awful lot still to do. South Korea lead 1-0 thanks to Oh’s bullet header.
South Korea and Oh Se-Hun thought they had a second goal as Oh curled a shot into the bottom right hand corner but unfortunately he fouled and obstructed Khaled Ebrahim Hajiah in the build up and the goal was rightfully chalked off.
South Korea have been awarded a penalty with 18 minutes on the clock as Son Heung-Min is brought down inside the box after a clumsy challenge by Sami Al Sanea as he desperately tried to lunge in and stop Son from scoring but got the man and not the ball and the referee had no choice but to award a penalty kick. Son Heung-Min assumed responsibility of the penalty and he coolly dispatched it into the bottom left hand corner sending Khalid Al Rashidi the wrong way. South Korea 2 Kuwait 0. Cool as you like from Son.
On the 27th minute, Son Heung-Min has a sighter from distance which flashes just a few inches over the crossbar and hits the roof of the net as he looked to bend the ball it into the top right hand corner. Just a whisker away but Son Heung-Min is starting to show his class nearly scored a trademark finesse into the top corner but it remains 2-0.
The move of the game by far and Lee Jae-Sung will be kicking himself as to how he’s not added a third goal on the 40th minute as his header crashes off the crossbar and goes over. It all started with the wand of a left foot of Lee Kang-In as he switches the play superbly to pick out Son Heung-Min, who delays brilliantly and shows tremendous footwork and skill to take the ball away from the defender and flicks the ball onto the overlap of Hwang In-Beom who sends a delightful ball into the six-yard-box for Lee Jae-Sung who couldn’t stretch his neck muscles enough and keep his header underneath the crossbar. Superb team move by South Korea which just lacked the finish at the end of it. Got to go down as a sitter from Lee Jae-Sung as he had a free header inside the six-yard-box. It somehow remains 2-0.
At the break, South Korea lead Kuwait by two goals to nil thanks to a header from Oh Se-Hun and a penalty from the returning Son Heung-Min. South Korea have showed their dominance in the first half with a comfortable two goal advantage and it could have been more but Kuwait have got it all to do in the second half if they’re to get a positive result from the match as they haven’t kept the ball long enough and not created a chance of note.
With only 60 seconds into the second half, South Korea should have added to their two goal lead through Lee Kang-In as his effort flashes millimetres wide of the right hand post. Great build play from Son Heung-Min who cuts inside waiting for the overlapping run from Lee Jae-Sung this time before feeding him in and he delivered a dangerous low cross across the six-yard-box for Lee Kang-In who could only get a toe to the ball and watch it flash the wrong side of the post. Big chance wasted.
On the 50th minute, VAR recommended the referee to go and have a look at a potential red card challenge from Moaath Al Dhafiri as he appeared to stamp on the right calf of Seol Young-Woo but after a lengthy VAR check the referee sticks with his on field decision and it remains a yellow card for the foul. Not often you see the referee sticking to their guns but I think it’s just about the right decision as their was no real malice in the challenge just clumsy and late.
On the hour mark, Kuwait have a goal back through Mohammad Daham and what a goal it was as he absolutely leathered it past Jo Hyeon-Woo and into the top left hand corner. The architect was Yousef Majed as he drove in from the left flank before delivering an inch perfect ball to the back post in between Kim Min-Jae and Lee Myung-Jae to Mohammad Daham who took a touch before rifling in a half volley which arrowed straight into the top left hand corner. An unbelievable strike. Kuwait 1 South Korea 2. Game on!
With quarter of an hour to go, South Korea regain their two goal advantage through substitute Bae Jun-Ho’s finish inside the box as he reversed the ball in at the near post following a defence splitting pass from Hwang In-Beom which took out the entire team with one pass. Unbelievable vision and technique from Hwang In-Beom. South Korea 3 Kuwait 1.
With about five minutes to go of normal time, Kuwait threaten South Korea’s goal again as Redha Abu Jabarah’s header crashed off the left hand post and bounce away to safety luckily for South Korea because if that went in it would have been a nervy ending to the game but they survive a scare. It was poor defending from South Korea as Mohammad Daham’s free kick from the right hand side saw him pick out an unmarked Redha Abu Jabarah at the back post but his header crashed off the left hand post and away to safety. It remains 3-1.
It’s all over here at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium as South Korea ran out 3-1 winners thanks to first half goals from Oh Se-Hun and Son Heung-Min but Mohammad Daham pulled a goal back in the second half and Bae Jun-Ho made sure of victory for South Korea late on in proceedings.
Next up for Kuwait is another home match against Jordan on Wednesday the 20th of November where they’ll be looking to bounce back to winning ways as soon as possible and the match itself is set for an 3:15am kick off time (KST). This match is Round 6 of their World Cup Qualification AFC 3rd Round Group B campaign.
Next up for South Korea on Tuesday the 19th of November is another match away and this time to Palestine where they’ll be looking to continue their good form and collect all three points again and the match itself is set for an 11pm kick off time (KST). This match is Round 6 of their World Cup Qualification AFC 3rd Round Group B campaign.
Kuwait: Khalid Al Rashidi, Sami Al Sanea (Othman Al Dosari 71’), Al Enizi, Khaled Ebrahim Hajiah, Meshari Al-Enezi (Ahmad Al Dhefiri 71’), Athbi Saleh (Sultan Al Enezi 61’), Mohammad Daham, Redha Abu Jabarah, Eid Al Rashedi (Yousef Nasser 71’), Moaath Al Dhafiri (Yousef Majed 58’), Salman Al Awadi. Subs not used: Abdulrahman Al Fadhli, Hamad Al Harbi, Rashed Al Dousari, Fahed Al Hajeri, Hamad Al Harbi, Ali Ahmad Khalaf, Ayedh Al Otaibi, Faisal Zayed Al Harbi.
South Korea: Jo Hyeon-Woo, Seol Young-Woo, Cho Yu-Min, Kim Min-Jae, Lee Myung-Jae (Lee Tae-Seok 64’), Hwang In-Beom (Paik Seung-Ho 81’), Park Yong-Woo, Lee Kang-In, Lee Jae-Sung ( Lee Hyun-Ju 81’), Son Heung-Min (Bae Jun-Ho 64’), Oh Se-Hun (Oh Hyeon-Gyu 75’). Subs not used: Lee Chang-Geun, Kim Kyeong-Min, Kim Bong-Soo, Kwon Kyung-Won, Kim Moon-Hwan, Hong Hyun-Seok, Joo Min-Kyu.
Reporter: Pearse McLaughlin
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