The K League 1 Wrap-Up: Friday Night Football, Big Wins For the Top Four, and Daegu End Their Losing Streak

With Friday night football returning this week, there was plenty to talk about as the 2025 K League 1 campaign wrapped-up its first third of the regular season. With that in mind, columnist Nathan Sartain again returns to recap all the key talking points.

Friday Night Football = Entertainment?

The first Friday games of the 2025 K League 1 season gave us plenty to talk about, while further tightening the upper-echelon of the table.

Firstly, Ulsan HD returned to form with a confidence-boosting 3-0 win over Gwangju FC. It was perhaps the Horangi’s most accomplished performance of the season so far, with them taking 12 of their 13 shots on target, controlling the flow of the game with a steady 67% possession, and really limiting the Griffins in the final third (a counter-attacking break from a corner aside). Although they've had notable inconsistencies, Ulsan have still managed three victories from their last five games, rising to fourth as a result. With at least one more game played than any other team, however, they’ll want to continue rebuilding momentum on Monday in the second East Coast Derby of 2025.

Speaking of the East Coast, Pohang Steelers fell to a late 2-1 defeat against Gimcheon Sangmu in our other Friday night game. Here, there was plenty of ambition but a lack of clinical execution for large parts of the match, before one goal suddenly livened everything up. After Park Sang-hyeok’s headed opener for the military side, Pohang snatched back the momentum - and got the home crowd fully onside -  just three minutes later through a calm Oberdan finish. Then, a disallowed offside goal for the Steelers following a period of relative control seemed to indicate we were bound to head towards an entertaining stalemate. Yet it was Gimcheon who took their final chance, with Park Sang-hyeok’s composed finish near the penalty spot giving him a brace, and his team enough points to move into third-place.

[READ: "I’m Confident We’ll Be Fighting for Promotion to K League 1" – An Interview with Seoul E-Land’s Euller Silva.]

Daegu Get Their Win

It’s been a really difficult couple of months for Daegu FC. After starting the season full of promise, with deserved back-to-back home wins and a solid enough 0-0 draw at the Steelyard, the Sky Blues went on a seven-game losing streak. Suddenly gone was the confident directness of those opening pair of matches, with a demonstrable lack of confidence soon on show.

However, in round 11, Daegu ended their unenviable run of form, beating Jeju SK 3-1 to put themselves within three points of automatic safety. From the start things were going well for the Sky Blues, with a Kyohei Yoshino headed goal from a corner putting his team in front after two-minutes, before Jeong Chi-in’s long-range effort caught Jeju goalkeeper Kim Dong-jun by surprise to extend the lead in first-half stoppage time. In the second period, things did get scrappier, with the Tangerines pressing hard to get back into the game despite going a man-down, and potentially finding their route to a comeback through the in-form Yuri. But it wasn’t to be, and Daegu held firm until Edgar’s 99th-minute goal rubber-stamped a necessary victory for the managerless side.

Elsewhere in the potential relegation battle, Suwon FC earned a 0-0 draw with Gangwon FC. It was a bitty game of few chances for the most part - though Kim Min-jun found an excellent finish ruled out for offside - so neither team can argue with the result, but both will be aiming to find a clinical edge that has been largely missing across the first third of 2025 in their respective upcoming fixtures.

Even More Title Race Talk

On Saturday afternoon, Daejeon Hana Citizen continued to set the pace at the top of the table with a 2-1 home victory over FC Anyang. For the Purples, they did what they needed to do, keeping their defensive work generally solid despite the Violets managing 19 attempts, and only conceding in the 91st-minute. With three consecutive wins, Daejeon will have all the belief they can make 2025 a history-making year, and perhaps come away with a first-ever K League 1 title.

Moving on, Saturday night saw Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors keep Daejeon's lead at the top of the table to five points, with their 1-0 away triumph over FC Seoul a composed showing. Following what was ultimately to be Song Min-kyu’s 24th-minute winner, the Green Warriors were exceptionally solid, rising to all of Seoul’s 21 shots, and almost grabbing a second for themselves before VAR intervened. Again, it’s worth praising Jeonbuk’s improvements that are being made under Gus Poyet, as they now find themselves firmly in the mix near the top going into the next round-robin.

And to end the wrap-up, if you want a reason to get excited for the upcoming weekday games, Jeonbuk and Daejeon will face off on Tuesday, in an early season six-pointer. Great stuff.