‘Post-Jo Kyu-sung’ Park Jae-yong to score back-to-back goals against desperate Suwon

After scoring on his K League One debut, all eyes will be on Jeonbuk Hyundai to see if Park Jae-yong can once again prove his ‘post-Jo Kyu-sung’ credentials against Suwon Samseong, who have escaped from the bottom of the table.

Jeonbuk will take on Suwon in the 26th round of the K League 1 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium at 7 p.m. on Dec. 12. A win would give Jeonbuk a record-breaking eight-game home winning streak for the third time after 2016 and 2018.

Once again, Park Jae-yong will be in front of the goal for Suwon. Jeonbuk signed Park Jae-yong, the “second Cho Kyu-sung,” from K League 2 FC Anyang on March 20 to fill the void left by Cho Kyu-sung’s departure to Mittwalland in the Danish league. The two players, both former Anyang youth players, share the common traits of being strong, physical, post-playing, goal-scoring strikers.

The impact was immediate. After playing 45 minutes in the third leg of the Coupang Play Series against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on March 3, Park and his teammates combined to score the opening goal in the 15th minute of their league debut against Incheon United on March 6. In the torrential downpour, he showed great concentration to collect a deflected Han Kyo-won shot at his feet and accurately place it into the corner of the net. Jeonbuk held on for a 2-0 win over Incheon to move into third place.

However, Suwon, who have climbed out of the bottom of the table with two wins and three draws in five games in July, are also in good form. Their unbeaten run was interrupted by a 0-2 loss to Suwon FC on July 5, but Mulicic and Kim Joo-chan have been on fire with back-to-back goals, and new summer signing Kazuki has been a threat in the middle of the park with his wide vision and passing ability.

Suwon also need a win to stay out of the relegation zone. Their loss last time out left them five points adrift of 10th-place Suwon FC and 13 points behind 9th-place Jeju. However, there is still room for Jeju to catch up as they are in a terrible slump with four draws and six losses in their last 10 games.

Jeonbuk coach Dan Petrescu has high hopes for Park’s goal-scoring ability. “Jae-yong is strong in post-play and delivery,” he said after the match against Incheon on June 6, “I hoped he would be lucky to score a goal in his debut, but I’m glad it happened.”

“I’m happy to get a win and a goal in my first game, but I’ve only played one game and I’ve only been training with Jeonbuk for a short time,” said Park, who responded to his debut goal. “My teammates are very good, so if I can do a little better, I can help the team.” 메이저놀이터