Month-by-Month Recap: Daejeon Hana Citizen's 2024 Relegation Scare

Daejeon began 2024 with a draw away to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Daejeon performed well on that extremely cold day in Jeonju and were the better team for most of the afternoon. Daejeon opened the scoring 11 minutes in through Vladislavs Gutkovskis, who hit the bar late on. It proved decisive as Jeonbuk equalised shortly after through Ahn Hyun-beom. The players were said to have been disappointed with only a point for their endeavours, but with the benefit of hindsight, this rings even more true having seen Jeonbuk finish 10th and limp over the line.

The performance ought to have served as a platform for Daejeon to go on and earn their first win of the season the following week, but they lost 3-1 to Jeju United on the island. In the home opener in Round 3, a late equaliser from Peniel Mlapa salvaged a point before a 2-0 away loss to Incheon brought March to a close. A poor start to the new campaign with alarm bells starting to ring.

Wins: 0

Points: 2/12

League Position: 12th

Goals For/Against: 3/7

April

April was a very busy month with no fewer than seven matches including the Korea Cup. It began with a 2-0 home win over champions Ulsan HD, in a game where Daejeon showcased their threat on the counter. But in the following home match, Daejeon surrendered a 1-0 lead late on to end up losing to Pohang Steelers, a game that saw individual errors cost the Purples.

Daejeon's next win came in the Korea Cup, beating fourth-tier Jinju Citizen away 2-0 which set them up for a three-match unbeaten run to close the month out. Daejeon recorded 0-0 draws with Daegu and Gimcheon with a 3-1 home win over FC Seoul sandwiched in between. All in all, a month that seemed to signal that the Purples were getting their act together.

Wins: 2
Points: 8/18

League Position: 9th

Goals For/Against: 6/3

[READ: Daejeon Hana Citizen's nearest away grounds in 2025]

May

May was a rough month for Daejeon, one which saw the club fail to pick up a single win and saygoodbye to manager Lee Min-sung. It began with a 2-1 away loss to Gwangju before yet another late equaliser helped Daejeon draw with Gangwon, except this time it was a game that saw Daejeon go 2-0 up only to find themselves trailing 3-2 - Peniel Mlapa to the rescue again with a late spot-kick. But then another defeat followed, this time to Incheon which proved to be Lee Min-sung's last in charge. Jung Kwang-seok was placed in caretaker charge for the next two games, a 4-1 away loss to Ulsan, a 1-0 loss to Jeju, and then the first match of June.

Wins: 0
Points: 1

League Position: 12th

Goals For/Against: 5/10

June

June was another busy month for Daejeon but it began with a win, 1-0 at home to Daegu thanks to a late Peniel Mlapa header. It was then followed up with a 1-1 draw away to Pohang Steelers, Daejeon's first match with Hwang Sun-hong back in the dugout after being re-appointed as manager. Hwang's first home match was a penalty shootout loss to Jeju United in the Korea Cup, but his first league game at Purple Arena was a dramatic late comeback win over Gwangju FC. Cheon Seong-hoon, a recent summer signing bagged his first goal for the club to make it 1-1 before Song Chang-seok turned in a late winner in injury time. However, despite the positives, Daejeon ended the month with back-to-back 2-0 losses, first to Gimcheon on the road and then Suwon FC at home, as if to remind Hwang Sun-hong of the task he had on his hands.

Wins: 2
Points: 7/15
League Position: 11th
Goals For/Against: 4/6

July

July was a struggle for Daejeon and the honeymoon period with Hwang was well and truly over. Daejeon failed to pick up a single win throughout July, drawing three and losing three. In three of the four games, Daejeon had dropped points from winning positions having taken the lead against FC Seoul (2-1 loss), Gangwon FC (1-1 draw), and Pohang Steelers (2-1 loss). But the month began with a 2-2 draw at home to Jeonbuk, fighting back from 2-0 down to earn a point thanks to a 90th-minute Kim Jun-beom goal. Fans had begun to doubt Hwang's abilities to save the club from relegation and the terraces were filled with discontent.

Wins: 0
Points: 2/12
League Position: 12th
Goals For/Against: 6/8

[READ: Masatoshi Ishida returns to Daejeon Hana Citizen]

August

August was a short but sweet month for Daejeon with two wins and a draw. It began with a 2-1 away win over Suwon FC, the team's first on the road in the league, which was followed up by Daejeon's first win over Incheon since 2013. The Incheon win was especially important as it saw Vladislavs Gutkovskis score his first goal since the opening day having spent much of the season thus far injured, and did so in the last minute. It was the first time that Daejeon had strung together back-to-back league wins and kicked off an impressive run that would, ultimately, help the Purples survive relegation. The last match of August was a 2-2 draw away to Gimcheon, but saw Daejeon come back from 2-0 down to earn the point.

Wins: 2
Points: 7/9
League Position: 12th
Goals For/Against: 6/4

September

The good August form set Daejeon up to start September strongly with the first three matches going the same way as the previous three - back-to-back wins and a draw. The wins came over Gwangju (2-0) and FC Seoul (3-2), home and away respectively. In the win over Gwangju, goalkeeper Lee Chang-geun registered an assist when releasing Kim In-gyun on the counter. At Sangam two weeks later, Daejeon's high press earned them two goals in the first six minutes. The second goal, scored by Choi Geon-ju, came just two minutes after Masatoshi Ishida's opener and fans were still celebrating.

At this point, fans had started to truly believe that safety was in the team's hands. In some of the darker periods of the season, fans and players alike had begun to accept that anything other than automatic relegation would do, given how tightly contested the relegation battle was. But, September ended with a 1-0 home loss to Ulsan, bringing an end to the team's seven-match unbeaten run. The manner in which it happened, too, with an error from a young player, seemed to bring focus to the players and allowed them to regroup during the international break.

Wins: 2
Points: 7/12
League Position: 11th
Goals For/Against: 5/3

October

After the international break, and for the last match before the split, Daejeon started October with another defeat away to Jeju United. Both of Jeju's goals had come in stoppage time, Yuri Jonathan's in the first half, and Kim Ju-gong in the second, and with stand-in goalkeeper Lee Jun-seo making a couple of errors. It was the display of a goalkeeper who played just once since the opening day of the season, still needing to shake off some rust. But then, Daejeon won their next two matches and kept back-to-back cleansheets. The first was away to Jeonbuk with Kim Jun-beom bagging a brace, and then at home to Daegu thanks to Masa's somewhat fortuitous strike.

November

November was spent unbeaten and withsafety secured with a game to spare. A 0-0 draw away to Gwangju got the month started before back-to-back 2-1 wins drew the season to a close. The first of those 2-1 wins came away to Incheon, securing survival and condemning the Durumi to relegation in one fell swoop. It was also Daejeon's first away win over Incheon since March 2013. The season was concluded at home and with a win over Jeju United and one which saw Ju Se-jong make his 200th K League 2 appearance, and with his contract due to expire, possibly his last for Daejeon. Daejeon finished the season in eighth place.