The K League 1 Wrap-Up: Suwon FC Secure Victory, Ulsan HD Climb the Table, and Gangwon FC Show Promise

With plenty of highlights, as well as some interesting movement in the league table, columnist Nathan Sartain returns to talk about round eight of the 2025 K League 1 season.

Suwon FC Win!

It was certainly due, and Suwon FC delivered their first win of the season in thrilling fashion with a 3-2 triumph against high-flying Gimcheon Sangmu. On an occasion like this, the performance generally matters less, with a positive result a clear priority, but in fairness to Suwon, they had some patches of excellent play against the military side.

Once 2-1 down, Suwon could have folded. And, in a similar vein, Gimcheon could have managed the game as excellently as they’re capable of. Yet Kim Eun-jung’s men would not allow that to happen, equalising nine-minutes after falling behind, before applying consistent pressure in search of a winner which, in the 97th-minute, arrived courtesy of a powerful Lee Hyun-yong header. Now, the task for Suwon is to build on this, and continue their ambitions of climbing the table.

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Seoul and Daejeon's Stalemate

In a proverbial game of two-halves, FC Seoul and Daejeon Hana Citizen played out an entertaining 2-2 draw, and both teams will probably come away feeling like they’ve missed an opportunity.

During the first-half, Daejeon were comfortable, capitalising on some shaky defending from Seoul to go into the break 2-0 up, and in general looking like a team with an abundance of confidence. But it was a completely different story in the second period, with Seoul relentless in their pressure, and entirely deserving of getting the game back to 2-2. To be honest, if it wasn’t for goalkeeper Lee Chang-geun, or at times the woodwork, then Kim Gi-dong’s men would have actually completed the turnaround.

Still, all in all this was a cracker, and a match which on another day would have seen more than just four goals.

Lee Ho-jae Meets VAR

Since the advent of VAR, there’s always the risk fans and players can’t fully celebrate some goals. In fact, sometimes nerves set in as soon as the ball crosses the line, purely out of fear of 'The Check™'. Will this goal stand? Is a toe offside? Has a hand been involved? Where’s the foul? “That looks tight.” Chances are if you’re a football fan, you’ve had these questions and statements run through your head multiple times over the course of a season.

For Lee Ho-jae, he had a hat-trick of goals chalked off/confirmed to be disallowed by the dreaded technology. Twice for the use of a hand - one his own, one Oberdan during an assist - and on another occasion for a foul in the buildup. It was a greatly unfortunate slice of luck for the forward, who clearly thought at least one of his efforts should have stood, but he did eventually manage to get himself on the scoresheet via a retaken penalty, which in turn sealed a 2-1 victory for Pohang Steelers against FC Anyang. What an eventful game for the striker, eh?

Gangwon Move Forward

After three successive defeats without scoring, Gangwon FC returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Gwangju FC. In reality, the slender scoreline doesn’t tell the full story, as the Bears had a number of fine opportunities to extend their lead, and in a rarity this year, outperformed their opposition in the shooting department (12 shots to Gwangju’s five). Regarding manager Jung Kyung-ho, tactically this represented a riskier, better-balanced performance from his Gangwon side, and will perhaps inspire some confidence going forward that he can get this squad playing higher up the pitch, and with greater purpose.

What defeat for Gwangju means, however, is that they failed to capitalise on Daejeon’s round eight draw, and Gimcheon’s loss. A win today would have put the Griffins into second, just one point away from the league-leading Purples, so they’ll certainly rue the fact they couldn’t apply more potent pressure on the Gangwon box.

Ulsan HD Rise to Third

It’s been an inconsistent few weeks for Ulsan HD, who had drawn two and lost two of their last four league games coming into round eight. Admittedly, they hadn’t quite looked like reigning champions, instead seeming like a team which had slightly lost its spark for the time being. And, while a 1-0 away victory against Daegu FC - who themselves have now lost six consecutive matches - isn’t a magic bullet, it has actually lifted the Horangi into third. Given they’re still within touching distance of the summit of the table, you’d back Ulsan to course correct over the next few weeks and months, in what has generally been a very competitive K League 1 so far in 2025.

And that’s about it for this week’s column. The only other game in the round saw Jeonbuk come from behind to draw 1-1 with Jeju SK, which keeps the Green Warriors in the top-half, and ensures the Tangerines stay ahead of both Suwon FC and Daegu FC.