Team K-League (Seoul) 31.07.2024

It was Spurs on the attack from the start as the K-League side became accustomed to playing with each other, all joining to form a team from separate clubs.  Aggressive closing down and firmly hit passes typified the Spurs style and apart from Team K-League winning one corner, they were effectively pushed back into defence for the first fifteen minutes.  Son came inside off the left to lay the ball into Pape Matar Sarr’s feet, but he could only side-foot the ball wide as he was slightly off-balance and the K-League’s Dong-Gyeong Lee has a pop from 22 yards out when he picked up a half-cleared cross and shot over by a couple of feet with 20 minutes gone.  Pedro Porro had enjoyed getting forward and got on the end of a ball into the box, bringing a good stop from the goalkeeper, with Pape following in with a shot from the rebound, but Jo was up quickly to stick out a leg to stop the effort with his foot.  Porro then popped up in the box but didn’t keep the ball down, sending his shot over the top.  Pedro was revealing in the role that he had been handed, even appearing in the left wing position !  He then received a short corner on that side moving the ball forward into the area before hitting a low shot from the angle.New Spurs signing Yang showed a taster of what he can do when a ball was played up to him on the halfway line and aware that Emerson Royal was fast approaching behind him, turned away to his right, leaving the Brazilian in his wake.  The 18 year old went off on a run forward, but laid a pass off, sending his team-mate wider than he would have liked.  Davies played a neat ball diagonally over the defence into the box for Porro to stretch and volley into the goalmouth, but it was just a bit behind Kulusevski.  Yang was again involved, being played into the box by Park and he fired a rising shot narrowly over the bar and after a drinks break, it was our current South Korean, Heung-Min Son who took on Yun-Do Young who looked as though he nicked our skipper’s ankle as he got to the by-line.  The referee didn’t agree, despite Son pummelling the ground in frustration.

Brennan Johnson played the ball inside to Sarr, who spread play wide to the left, where Son again came inside, stroking a quick shot at goal.  It took the keeper Jo by surprise, because even though he went low to save, he could not hold it and that allowed Dejan Kulusevski to got to it first and dig out a shot from just inside the left corner of the six-yard box that went into the top right-hand corner of the keeper’s net.  Jo did get a hand to it, but could only help it in its way.  It had taken 24 minutes, but Dejan’s efforts were well-rewarded by a poacher’s goal.  

It was now all Tottenham, with Son embarking on a run across the inside of the 18 yard line and pulling it back, where Johnson met it at the near post, but the keeper was on top of him to block it.  Our fellow Swedes linked up and Dejan picked out his countryman across the box to the right, from where Lucas fired a shot that bounced back down off the underside of the bar and out.  Lee Dong-Young finished a K-League break with a shot from 25 yards that had Vicario diving across to his left in case it was on target, but it skipped wide off the turf.

Jamie Donley was linking well and played a pass down the left wing to Son, who looked to have over-run the ball as he ran at the defence, but he regained control and when he reached the intersection of the D and the 18 yard line, he bent a trademark shot that flew into the keeper’s top left-hand corner much to the delight of Spurs and Korean fans alike.  It must have been the goal that he had hoped for in this game and enjoyed it with his photo celebration.

Just before half-time, Son and Donley worked the ball to give the young left-back a chance to cross but there was nobody in the middle to turn the low ball into the net.  Donley was again involved when he played the same pass which got Son running inside once more and we have seen in pre-season that when we speed up passes around the box, it creates chances.  There were a couple of passes outside the D until Son played a one-two with Deki, taking a touch through the legs of Seong-Wook Park putting him clear into the box and from the penalty spot, he slid the ball past Jo to his right as the keeper went the wrong way.  A neat bit of skill got Sonny into that position, but he maintained a clear head to calmly slot the ball home to round off a very good move.

There were only three Spurs changes at the break, while K-League made ten, so had more fresh legs on board than we did.  In the second minute a near post corner saw Royal thump a header against the bar, with the K-League breaking straight-away and getting the ball in the back of the net, but it was ruled out by an offside flag.  It didn’t stop them and looking quick on the break, they got it back to 3-2 within three minutes.  The Brazilian Anderson was key to the two goals.  He was pulling the strings and put in Jae-Hee Jeong struck a low shot from inside the box on the right that Austin saved, but as he hit the ground the ball came off his elbow and ran invitingly for Iljutcenko to slide in from close range.  That got one goal back and the second came soon after with Anderson playing it to Jeong again and this time he put in a cross that bounced kindly for Iljutcenko to throw himself to his knees to place his header past Austin with 53 minutes gone. 

After half-time, space seemed to have opened up through the Tottenham midfield and the K-League side were making the most of it with the League’s top scorer finishing as you would expect him to.  Around the 65th minute mark, Spurs changed the rest of the team apart from Emerson Royal and it was young left back George Abbott who made a great block to stop Jeong’s drive getting anywhere near the goal as the home team enjoyed another pacy break-away.

When it looked more likely that the K-League would be the side to score next, Tottenham extended their lead with a goal straight off the training ground,  We have seen it so often, but this started with Djed Spence pinned on the right touch-line halfway inside his own half by two opponents, but he dealt with the pressure and found a pass between them to Royal, who shifted it on to Yves Bissouma.  He ran forward and fed James Maddison in the centre-circle, looking up to find Timo Werner on the left wing.  One-on-one with the right-back, he drifted past him and pulled the ball square across the six yard box and there was Will Lankshear inside the side yard box to find the net from the six yard line.  Spurs had looked for this type of goal since the break and Lankshear instinctively knows where he should be and he volleyed in, although if he hadn’t got there, Mikey Moore was behind him ready to score.

The drinks break brought the dreaded Mexican Wave which unfortunately seems to be something that people going to the game appear to enjoy, but I find an intense irritation.  There was nearly something different for the crowd to enjoy when Lankshear was sent into the area and bent his left foot shot just wide of the far post.  Abbott was the next Spurs man to have a go at goal when a ball was played to him just outside the D, but he got it all wrong, sending his shot over the top.

Jeong was so quick to run down the right wing and despite looking offside, wasn’t flagged and he raced away from Abbott before striking a fierce shot from the right that Austin beat out and Iljutcenko got onto the loose ball, but his shot into the ground bounced up and over the bar.  They kept going and when Spence had to concede a corner as Jeong flew down the wing and when it was punched out by Austin, Oberdan smacked it back past him on the volley from 22 yards out.  It was a terrific strike and probably the goal of the game.

Cesinha almost drew K-League level, when he side-footed Jeong’s ball in towards the near post, but Austin was equal to it, as he dived to his left to push the ball wide.  As the ball was headed out by Dragusin, it was played forward and Skipp was first to it, but a horror tackle saw Anderson plant his studs in Ollie’s knee and only after play broke down did the referee stop the game to allow treatment and then pull out the yellow card, which VAR might have deemed red if it had been in operation here.  The K-League side were getting a bit more physical, with Maddison taking quite a few late kicks and Abbott being dragged around after he had played a pass.

Jeong was once again the provider for Iljutcenko, who fired his shot against the bar, but he had been offside anyway, which was just s well as it would have been a bit embarrassing for Dragusin, who completely missed the cross when it came in.  In the final minute, Maddison curled a shot just wide of the keeper’s left hand post from inside the area and then scuffed a shot straight at the keeper as the match went into five added minutes.  The impressive Jeong was still causing problems and again, his powerful running ended with a low shot across Austin and past the foot of the far post.  Spence was unselfish when he was found in the area, as he looked to pick out Mikey Moore and the pass was blocked.  Maddison wasn’t having the luck as he jinked into a yard of space inside the 18 yard line and curled another shot, this time being denied by the keeper’s right-hand post.

This was a simple first half and a tricky second.  It was more that the more experienced side in each half had the better of it, but a win is good for confidence, even if the performance is more important.  There could have been more goals for either side, with Tottenham hitting the woodwork three times and a few more opportunities, while the K-League side were particularly dangerous after half-time.  Jae-Hee Jeong might well be a player that Spurs monitor over the next year or so, as he looked a very good player. 

Most of all, there was the flash of anger in the first half drinks break that showed Ange wasn’t happy with the first 22 minutes and there will be more work to do on the training pitch, as well as getting other players up to speed when they return to the club after the summer’s tournaments.  Still more to come, but the season’s kick off is approaching fast.

Ian Jones