SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- Ulsan Hyundai FC defeated rivals Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2-1 on Saturday to kick off the new South Korean football season, getting their title defense off on the right foot.
Um Won-sang and new Swedish midfielder Gustav Ludwigson each scored for Ulsan, erasing an early goal by Song Min-kyu in the 2023 K League 1 season opener at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
Ulsan held off Jeonbuk for their first K League 1 crown in 17 years in 2022, also foiling Jeonbuk's bid for a record sixth consecutive title. The two clubs are once again expected to battle for the league supremacy this year, and Ulsan got the upper hand in their first meeting of the new campaign.
Song opened the scoring just 10 minutes into the contest, but Um scored off a rebound to level the score for Ulsan in the 43rd minute.
Ludwigson, who signed with Ulsan in January after more than a decade in his native Sweden, made his K League debut off the bench in the 53rd minute. He then scored the go-ahead goal 11 minutes later, when goalkeeper Kim Jeong-hoon couldn't corral a backpass from defender Hong Jeong-ho.
Ulsan successfully locked things down over the final half hour to secure the victory.
The match drew 28,039 fans, the biggest crowd in the K League 1 since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"I think the players did a tremendous job pulling out this important victory," Ulsan head coach Hong Myung-bo said. "After we won the title last year, motivation could be an issue for us. But coming from behind to win the opening match will be huge. I think we showed how much we've grown as a team."
Elsewhere in the K League 1 on Saturday, Gwangju FC, newly promoted from the second-tier K League 2, blanked Suwon Samsung Bluewings 1-0 behind Jasir Asani's goal in the 88th minute at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul.
FC Seoul edged out Incheon United 2-1 at Seoul World Cup Stadium, with Lim Sang-hyub and Kim Ju-sung scoring a goal apiece for the home team.
Source: Yonhap News Agency