Professional soccer’s K League One Gangwon FC has pulled away from the bottom of the table by beating Jeonbuk Hyundai behind enemy lines.
Gangwon defeated Jeonbuk 3-1 in the 30th round of the K League 1 on Saturday at Jeonju World Cup Stadium.
With the victory, Gangwon, which has gone winless in its last three matches (one draw and two losses), accumulated 24 points and leapfrogged Suwon Samsung (22 points), which has yet to play 30 rounds, to 11th place from the bottom.
Jeonbuk remained in fifth place (43-35 points – 7 goals for) but fell to a five-match winless streak (3 draws, 2 losses).
Jeonbuk took the lead on a penalty kick just five minutes into the match.
Han Gyo-won was tripped by Gangwon defender Lee Ji-sol on the left side of the penalty area and a penalty was awarded, which Gustavo stepped up and slotted home with his right foot.
However, Gangwon’s counterattack, led by Gabriel and Yago, was fierce and resulted in two goals in first-half stoppage time.
Shortly into the extra period, Gabriel took a pass from Shin Min-woo and scored with his right foot from the penalty arc to level the score, and about two minutes later, Yago sprinted down the right flank and slammed the ball home with his right foot inside the penalty area.
It was Gabriel’s first K League goal and Gallego’s second of the season.
In the second half, heavy rain poured down midway through the second half, watering the field and making it difficult for the ball to roll, but Gangwon’s Kim Dae-won scored the game’s decisive goal in the 30th minute.
A long ball from near the halfway line landed on the left side of the penalty area and barely bounced before coming to rest, and Kim Dae-won picked it up and struck a right-footed shot that hit the legs of a Jeonbuk defender and went into the net.
Toward the end of the match, the ground was heavily waterlogged, making it difficult for the players to play properly.
When a penalty kick was awarded in the 42nd minute for a handball foul by Gangwon’s Ryu Kwang-hyun, Jeonbuk players had to push the water off the grass to see where the penalty kick would be taken.
The penalty was canceled after Jeonbuk was called for offside, and the game ended with a two-goal victory for Gangwon.
The league’s second-place team, Pohang, defeated Suwon FC 2-0 at the Anbang Steel Yard to extend its unbeaten run to nine matches (five wins and four draws).
Pohang, with 56 points, moved to within five points of leaders Ulsan Hyundai (61 points), who host Daejeon Hana Citizens at 7 p.m. tonight.
Suwon FC, who have lost all three meetings with Pohang this season, remain in 10th place with 29 points.
Pohang’s Zeca was the star of the show in the win, scoring both of his team’s goals in the 28th and 44th minutes. With his two goals on the day, Zeca surpassed the 10-goal mark in the league this season.
At the Incheon Football Stadium, Incheon United defeated Jeju United 2-1.
Incheon’s Lee Myung-joo opened the scoring in the 29th minute and Jeju’s Kim Seung-seop equalized in the 22nd minute, before Incheon’s Hernandez found the back of the net from the left corner of the penalty area in stoppage time.
Incheon moved up one spot to sixth place (43-35 points, goal difference -1), while Jeju, which saw its winless streak extend to four matches (one draw, three losses), dropped to ninth place (35 points). 안전놀이터