With a come-from-behind victory on Sunday, Jeju United are making things a little more interesting at the top of the K League 1 tables.
Ulsan Hyundai FC are still in first place. But following their 2-2 draw with Incheon United on Saturday, coupled with Jeju’s 3-1 win over Suwon FC on Sunday, Ulsan’s lead at the top has shrunk to five points, 27-22.
Ulsan needed two second-half goals to eke out a point against Incheon United. scored his league-leading ninth goal of the campaign for Incheon in the sixth minute.
Jeju rallied past Suwon FC 3-1 on Sunday, scoring the go-ahead goal and then the insurance marker in the late moments of the contest at Suwon Stadium in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul.
Joo Min-kyu, the reigning scoring champion, had the equalizer to make it 1-1 in the 72nd minute. He now has seven goals this year, two back of Mugosa.
Just as the match seemed headed for a 1-1 draw, Kim Ju-kong headed home a pass from Chung Woon in the 89th minute. Jeju then put the game out of Suwon FC’s reach during injury time, thanks to Lee Chang-min’s left-footed strike.
In Sunday’s nightcap at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Pohang tried to join Jeju at 22 points but instead suffered a 1-0 loss to FC Seoul to stay at 19 points, good for only fourth place. They are one point behind Incheon United.
Na Sang-ho scored the game’s lone goal in the 77th minute, lifting FC Seoul to sixth place at 17 points.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, five-time defending champions, settled for a 1-1 draw against lowly Gangwon FC. Kim Dae-won’s goal off a counterattack gave Gangwon a 1-0 lead in the 83rd minute, but Mo Barrow evened things up only four minutes later for Jeonbuk, which are now undefeated in their past seven matches.
Jeonbuk, though, remained in fifth place with 19 points. Gangwon, still searching for their first victory since March 5, are down to 11th place, second from the bottom, with 11 points.
Seongnam FC still occupy the last place at five points, following a 1-0 loss to Suwon Samsung Bluewings on Saturday. Seongnam have just one victory all season after a dozen matches and they have been held without a goal in eight of those 12 games.
Gimcheon Sangmu FC and Daegu FC played to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Teams will have a quick turnaround this week with two matches scheduled for Tuesday and four more on Wednesday, followed by three games each on Saturday and Sunday.
The K League 1 had about a month off from April to May to accommodate group stage fixtures for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League. Three clubs from the league, Ulsan, Jeonbuk and Daegu, were in action.
Source: Yonhap News Agency