Korean Football Round-up 21st Oct.

From more derby day despair for Ulsan, goals for Koreans overseas and a former Bluewing seemingly heading for a third J.League crown, Korean Football Round-up for 21st October from Paul Neat.

Destruction Derby

A nine-man Ulsan Hyundai side suffered a potentially destructive derby day defeat to rivals Pohang Steelers on Sunday night. Red cards to Dave Bulthuis and Bjørn Johnsen attributed to a late collapse at the Steelyard with Stanislav Iljutencko and Aleksander Paločević scoring braces in a 4-0 Steelers win. With Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors comfortably dispatching Gwangju FC by four-goals-to-one earlier in the day, the pressure was on the Horangi to pick up a result. With two matches left Ulsan's lead has been cut down to goals-scored heading into this Sunday's potentially title-deciding clash between the two K League giants.

Military leave

Sangju Sangmu won their last ever home game over the weekend, easing past North Gyeongsang Province neighbours Daegu FC in a 2-1 victory. With the army side set to play the last two matches of the season away from home ahead of a move to Gimcheon, Sangju were able to sign off with a win. Ahn Tae-hyun and a Kim Jae-woo own goal gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before Cesinha halved the deficit with a stunning free-kick 10 minutes from time. Sangmu moved to Sangju from Gwangju in 2010.

Seoul survivors

FC Seoul sealed K League 1 survival on Saturday thanks to a 1-0 away win over Seongnam FC. Cho Young-wook off the bench bagged the game's only goal to mathematically earn the capital club a place in the top flight for next season. Another positive was Ki Sung-yueng making his return to the squad after an injury layoff, making a late cameo to help see the game out for caretaker manager Park Hyuk-soon. The fight for survival is now a three-way battle between Busan, Seongnam, and Incheon.

The Weekend Preview (Oct. 23)

Trading places

Looking to trade places with K League 1's basement side are Jeju United and Suwon FC. Over the weekend, Jeju United were able to put daylight between themselves and Suwon on account of the Islanders 1-0 away win over Gyeongnam and Suwon's loss to Jeonnam in a 4-3 thriller at Castle Park. The two meet on Saturday in a promotion six-pointer. For the team which has to enter the playoffs, dates were officially announced last week. The third versus fourth semifinal will be played on Wednesday 18th November and the final on Saturday 21st November.

 

Nice one, Son

Son Heung-min picked where he left off before the international break, having a hand in all three of Tottenham's goals in the 3-3 draw with West Ham. Son opened the scoring inside the first minute before teeing up Harry Kane on seven minutes to make it 2-0. Then, For Tottenham’s third on 14 minutes, Son played the ball out to Sergio Reguilon who crossed for Harry Kane’s second. But, a late fightback from West Ham ensured that the spoils were shared as the North London side conceded three in the last six minutes. With five matches played, Spurs sit sixth on eight points. Son, meanwhile, is the Premier League's joint top scorer with seven.

Kicking Wurzburger

Korean international midfielder Lee Jae-sung picked up an assist in Holstein Kiel's 2-0 away win over Wuzburger Kickers in 2. Bundesliga on Sunday. It was Lee's first assist of the season and helped the Storks move to the top of the table on 10 points from four matches following an unbeaten start to the season.

Der Spielbericht zur Partie ist online. Hier findet ihr ein Kurzinterview mit Janni Serra und weitere Stimmen der Störche. Die PK folgt in Kürze: https://t.co/F4PukuZcNw#FWKKSV pic.twitter.com/Z0peF0WEeo

— Holstein Kiel (@Holstein_Kiel) October 18, 2020

Chuk-Koo

Koo Ja-cheol got Al-Gharafa up and running in a 2-0 win over Al Kharaitiyat in Qatar Stars League on Saturday local time. It was Koo's first league goal of the new season and helped the seven-times Qatar Stars League champions onto a fifth consecutive win in all competitions and into second in the league, three points behind table-topping Al Ahli.

Kawasaki cleansheets 

Former Korean international goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong kept his 10th cleansheet of the 2020 J.League 1 this season on Saturday in Kawasaki Frontale's 3-0 win over Nagoya Grampus. Frontale are now 17 points clear with 10 games left and look on course to seal fourth J1 title. Jung has two J.League 1 winners medals already from 2017 and 2018 and looks set to add a third in 2020 after losing out to Yokahama F. Marinos last year.