(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Lee Young-ho and Ahn Hong-seok = Ulsan Hyundai escaped their first consecutive defeat of the season in the second half of the year’s first ‘East Coast Derby’ against Pohang thanks to Bako, ‘Theater Balancer’ ‘. Steel.
Ulsan drew 2-2 with Bako’s precious equalizer in the 45th minute of the second half after trailing 1-2 in the home match between Pohang and Hana 1 Q K League 1 2023 Round 8 held at Munsu Stadium in Ulsan on the 22nd.
Ulsan, who tasted their first loss of the season in the 7th round after opening a 6-match winning streak, drew dramatically just before their first loss and maintained the lead with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss (19 points).
On the other hand, Pohang, who missed one win, had to be content with an unbeaten record in the opening game (4 wins, 4 draws, 16 points, 16 points).
Pohang has the same number of points as FC Seoul (16 points, 13 points), who beat “lowest ranked” Suwon Samsung 3-1 that day, but fell one step behind Seoul into 2nd and 3rd due to the difference in points .
The first target belonged to the highly maneuverable Pohang.
At the 13th minute of the first half, Shim Sang-min made a pass forward behind the Ulsan defense, and Ko Young-jun broke through the Ulsan defense on the left of the goal area and scored a goal with his left foot.
Ulsan’s counterattack was also strong.
At the 22nd minute of the first half, Bako’s powerful right-footed shot was blocked by goalkeeper Hwang In-jae’s super save, and at the 36th minute of the first half, Ju Min-gyu’s volley was also stuck on the defensive wall.
After blocking one goal in the first half, Pohang added another goal in the 9th minute of the second half. The main character is Ko Young-jun, who scored the opening goal.
Youngjun Ko received a pass from Jeka and completed the multi-goal with a powerful right-footed shot in front of the penalty arc.
Born in 2001, fourth-year K-League 1 young striker Go Young-jun scored goals in three or four consecutive matches.
However, ‘reigning champion’ Ulsan was not easily eliminated.
At the 15th minute of the second half, in a right corner kick situation, Joo Min-kyu pushed the ball to the left of the goal area with his left foot, signaling pursuit.
Ulsan, who had been on an all-out attack until the last minute, finally got the ball in the 45th minute of the second half when Bakko scored the ‘theatrical equaliser’ with a right-foot shot near the front of the penalty. area.
FC Seoul, held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, won the ‘100th Super Match’ against Suwon Samsung 3-1 with back-to-back goals from Na Sang-ho, Hwang Eui-jo and Palosevich.
Seoul, which is unbeaten in 3 matches (2 wins, 1 draw), moved up to second place.
Seoul widened the gap with Suwon with 40 wins, 25 draws and 35 losses.
Suwon, which fell into its worst slump, sacked manager Lee Byeong-geun and appointed manager Choi Seong-yong as managing manager, but failed to draw in the opening 8 matches (2 draws, 6 losses) and recorded a draw. come out from under.
Seoul took the lead with Na Sang-ho’s opener in the 37th minute of the first half.
Na Sang-ho, who scored 4 consecutive goals for the 5th season, rose to the top scorer ranking with Rubikson (Ulsan).
Suwon made threatening scenes from time to time in counterattack situations, but failed to capitalize on the opportunity.
In the second half, Hwang Ui-jo scored his first field goal after returning to the K-League, taking Seoul to the next level.
In the 7th minute of the second half, Ki Sung-young’s corner from the left led to a Kim Joo-sung header that only changed direction.
When Suwon Jeong Seung-won failed to block it properly, Hwang Eui-jo, who was in front of the goal, immediately scored an additional goal.
It has been 2128 days, 5 years and 9 months since Hwang Ui-jo scored a K-League field goal against Gyeongnam FC on 24 June 2017, when he was a member of Seongnam FC in K-League 2 (second division).
Hwang Eui-jo, who returned to the K-League after signing a short-term contract with Seoul until the summer ahead of this season, scored his debut goal in Seoul from a penalty in a game against Daegu FC on April 8.
Suwon, pushed to the brink of defeat, replaced a large number of attacking resources such as Mullich, Jeon Jin-woo, and Lee Sang-min.
For a while, things looked to be going in favor of Suwon, but Seoul was somewhat confident of victory with Palošević’s key goal in the 36th minute of the second half.
Suwon had to settle for reclaiming the winning point in the 43rd minute of the second half with Mullich’s season-defining goal.
At DGB Daegu Bank Park, Daegu FC has come off the beaten path for the last 3 games in a row – Cezingya’s winning goal in adu penalty beat Daejeon Hana Citizen 1-0 (1 draw, 2 loss).
Daegu got a chance to score through Hwang Jae-Won in the 17th minute and got a penalty kick. Daegu ranks 8th.
Daejeon (14 points), who suffered the first loss of the season to Ulsan in the 7th round, failed to take advantage of scoring opportunities and had 2 losses this season (4 wins, 2 draws) and dropped one level to 4th place.
At Incheon Stadium, Suwon FC and Incheon United recorded a 2-2 draw.
Suwon FC (11 points), which drew 2 consecutive matches, maintained the 6th position, and Incheon (9 points) also recorded 2 consecutive draws and maintained the 8th position.