Gangwon FC 1-0 Kuching City FC: why the visitors left Gangneung with nothing

Gangwon FC beat Kuching City FC 1-0 at Gangneung Stadium on 29 October, and the single goal was a fair reflection of the game. The AFC’s match report credits the winner to a first-half strike and calls it the Korean side’s first win in Group H of the AFC Champions League Two.

The match

Choe Byeong-chan scored in the 28th minute, from a pass by Kang Joon-Hyuck. That was the whole scoring.

The visitors’ bench came into play in the second half. In the 62nd minute Safawi Rasid came on for Ryan Lambert. In the same minute João Pedro da Silva Freitas replaced Dylan Wenzel-Halls. Jerome etame mpacko then came on for Gabriel Nistelrooy in the 73rd minute. None of it brought an equaliser.

The myth: a narrow defeat means a near miss

A one-goal margin away from home invites the reading that Kuching City FC were a finish away from a point. Were they? The figures do not carry that reading far. Gangwon FC had 61% possession, compared with Kuching City FC’s 39%. Gangwon FC took 15 shots to Kuching City FC’s 8. Gangwon FC recorded an expected goals (xG) total of 0.92, compared with 0.37 for Kuching City FC.

That is not a siege, and the hosts did not run riot. But it is not the profile of a side that was unlucky either: the visitors never built enough to make the one goal look unjust.

The real reasons

The first reason is the opening spell, and a visiting player named it. James Okwuosa of Kuching City FC told Makan Bola that his side showed Gangwon FC too much respect in the opening 20 minutes, and that this led to the goal they conceded. The goal came in the 28th minute. Giving the hosts the first spell of an away match left Kuching City FC chasing the game, and chasing it is where they spent the next hour.

The second reason is the ball. Gangwon FC made 582 passes to Kuching City FC’s 335. A side behind on the scoreboard needs the ball to turn a deficit around, and the visitors’ changes in the 62nd minute did not bring the equaliser. Speaking to the ASEAN Football Federation’s website on 28 October about the ASEAN Club Championship, Safawi Rasid put the need plainly: “when opportunities come, we have to make the most of them”. In Gangneung, the opportunities rarely came.

Makan Bola reported that Gangwon FC coach Chung Kyung-ho felt the aim had been reached because the team took the three points.

Where it leaves them

The group has not gone well for Kuching City FC. They lost 2-1 away to Phnom Penh Crown on 17 September. They drew 1-1 at home with Kitchee on 15 October. Gangneung added a second defeat.

The rest of the group is set. The two sides meet again at Taha Ariffin Stadium on 5 November. Phnom Penh Crown visit the same ground on 26 November. The group ends away to Kitchee in Hong Kong on 3 December.

The verdict

StraitScore’s view: this was a defeat Kuching City FC handed themselves in the first half-hour, then could not undo. Gangwon FC were the better side without being overwhelming, and the visitors’ own player named the moment it went wrong. The lesson for the return meeting in Kuching on 5 November is the opening spell.