“Football is all about goals, and Cho Hyun-woo is good at it”
Attacking football must eventually be rewarded with goals. Dan Petrescu bemoaned his side’s inability to convert chances into goals.
Dan Petrescu’s Jeonbuk Hyundai lost their 2023-24 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Ulsan HD 0-1 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Munsus Football Stadium in Ulsan, South Korea, thanks to a late goal from Seol Young-woo. With a 1-2 aggregate score, Jeonbuk ended their ACL journey in the quarterfinals.
The inability to convert their chances into goals was a big factor. Jeonbuk created a few good chances in the first half with their straightforward style of play, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Ulsan goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo had to choke back tears.
Ulsan also conceded a goal in the last minute of the first half. The Jeonbuk defense missed a move by Ulsan fullback Seol Young-woo, which led to the goal.
After conceding the lead, Jeonbuk turned up the intensity in the second half. They created more chances than in the first half and pushed Ulsan back. But once again, the finishing was lacking. Jeonbuk drove the ball up into Ulsan’s territory, but lacked the sharpness to finish in the attacking zone.
In the end, Jeonbuk was unable to break through Ulsan’s defense and ended the game with a 0-1 loss.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Petrescu said: “We are disappointed not to reach the last four. Football is a sport of goals. Today we didn’t start well, but we focused on the game and created several good chances. But we conceded at the end,” he sighed.
“In the second half, we struggled to create chances, but our goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo made some great saves. I think he shined the most in the first and second legs,” he said, referring to Cho Hyun-woo’s multiple saves in the match.
Petrescu was disappointed with Jeonbuk’s finishing. According to soccer stats site Futbolmob, Jeonbuk had three big chances on the day, but were unable to capitalize. Cho Hyun-woo’s saves and the Ulsan defense were the main reasons for this.
“In soccer, you have to score goals, and we didn’t capitalize on our chances, including the missed penalty,” Petrescu said. But the players gave everything they had. Above all, I apologize to the fans for the disappointment.”
“I will support Ulsan until the end because I want to see the same K League team win the championship for the last time,” Petrescu said, adding that he will cheer for Ulsan to lift the ACL Trophy after reaching the quarterfinals.
The first question was about Moon Sun-min. Moon started and played 74 minutes, but didn’t have much to show for it. He had some good chances but was denied by Cho Hyun-woo, and it was hard to see him dribble long.
However, Petrescu defended his player, saying: “I don’t understand the question. Moon is a good player. Any Jeonbuk player can be good. He makes a lot of plays to help the team, so I don’t agree with this question.”
Petrescu says that in both the league and ACL, “the process 카지노 was good, but the results didn’t follow”. However, in the end, it’s the goals and the results that make the difference. Petrescu also points to finishing as a problem for Jeonbuk.
“There are many reasons, but the biggest reason is that we didn’t convert the chances we created into goals,” he said, adding, “Last year, we didn’t have enough chances, but this year, I think the reason is that we didn’t score from our chances,” adding that the only positive this year is that they are creating scoring opportunities.
The silence of the frontline striker is a problem for Jeonbuk. The longer Thiago goes without a goal, the deeper the sigh of frustration for Jeonbuk, especially since he was recruited from Daejeon Hana Citizens ahead of this season. Thiago hasn’t scored since joining Jeonbuk, except for one goal against Suwon FC.
Coach Petrescu said, “Apart from the goal, the overall performance was good, but sometimes strikers have problems like this. It’s even harder to score against a goalkeeper of the quality we saw today. Thiago is working hard in every training session and I think the blockage will soon be cleared,” he said, adding that he expects even better from the striker.