The K League 1 Wrap-Up: Daejeon Hana Citizen Rise to Second, FC Anyang Edge Towards Survival, and Daegu FC Salvage a Draw

With just a few weeks to go in the 2025 K League 1 season, columnist Nathan Sartain recaps all the action from round 35.

Daejeon Hana Citizen's Hot Streak Continues to Extend

Ending 2025 how they started it, Daejeon Hana Citizen moved into second place with a 3-1 home victory against FC Seoul. In the first half proceedings were fairly even, and although the home side’s high pressing caused plenty of problems for Kim Gi-dong’s men, there wasn’t a great deal of chances to note. Really, the only major talking point came in the form of an overturned Daejeon penalty.

However, in the second period Daejeon took control early, capitalising on a rebounded header from Anton Kryvotsyuk to get into the lead. And, while an unfortunate Ha Chang-rae own goal restored parity, the Purples were certainly the team in the ascendancy.

As such, when Masatoshi Ishida’s deflected strike looped into the net, it felt like Seoul would need to find the kind of inspiration that inspired them to beat Gangwon FC 4-2 in round 34. But that wasn’t to come, and a Yu Kang-hyun overhead kick from a corner sealed all three points for a confident Daejeon side well-equipped to deal with their visitor’s late flurry of chances.

[READ: Five Takeaways from Incheon United's Title-Winning Season.]

FC Anyang Push Towards Safety at Ulsan HD's Expense

Blowing away last year’s K League 1 winners, FC Anyang took an important step towards potential top-flight survival courtesy of a 3-1 comeback victory against Ulsan HD.

There’s a nice balance to how Anyang attack in these kinds of home games, with the Violets unafraid to pressure their opposition relentlessly even if it runs the risk of leading to an end-to-end affair. Much like in round 33’s thrashing of Gimcheon Sangmu, playing directly led to the majority of chances being created, but Ryu Byeong-hoon’s side are by no means a team who play basic football. Aided by the likes of Matheus Oliveira - who was very much the architect to lots of yesterday’s success - Anyang are more than capable of building up with real flair and excitement too. They just so happen to have a perfect target-man in Bruno Mota, who is an outlet up front worth consistently crossing the ball too and involving in and around the box.

Talking about Bruno Mota, the Brazilian forward showed courage and let his quality shine through in this match, scoring an important equaliser, and resiliently picking himself up with a fantastic showing after suffering racist abuse last week following a missed penalty against Gwangju FC. There is no place for racism anywhere, and it’s a testament to Mota’s character for him to be able to handle what occurred in the manner he did.

Can Daegu FC Still Pull Off The Great Escape?

Despite only losing one of their last nine games (three wins, five draws), Daegu FC’s recent upturn in form still has them needing something of a minor miracle to survive in K League 1 as we head towards the end of the season.

Initially, today looked to be a day going in the Sky Blues’ favour too. Gwangju FC continued their winning start to life in Final B with a 2-0 triumph over 11th-place Jeju SK, with two late goals enough for the Griffins in a game that had seen them fail to register a single shot in the first half. Yet the struggling Tangerines were unable to find a breakthrough to capitalise on Gwangju’s vulnerability, partly due to goalkeeper Kim Kyung-min’s strong performance, and ultimately paid the price.

So, going into an away trip to Suwon FC, a Daegu win would have seen them cut the gap between them and Jeju to just four points, with a direct meeting between the two sides still to come. But it was the hosts who initially led after some early second-half pressure when a Pablo Sabbag header found its way beyond Han Tae-hui. To make matters worse, late in the day defender Caio Marcelo was sent off following a VAR review, and a short while later in stoppage time it appeared as if Suwon had extended their lead.

However, once that goal was correctly ruled out for offside, Daegu snatched the initiative, dramatically equalising in the 99th-minute through Edgar’s powerful header from a corner. Are these kind of draws, as euphoric as they may appear, enough at this stage though? After all, it’s a six-point gap that needs overturning by the Sky Blues in the final weeks of the campaign, with home games against Gwangju FC and FC Anyang to come either side of what is almost guaranteed to be a deciding clash with their relegation rivals Jeju SK.

What Else Happened in Round 35?

In a game of limited chances, but two disallowed goals, Gangwon FC fought well to draw 0-0 with K League 1 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. There’s not much to highlight here, other than that the Bears will end 2025 as the only team to keep two clean sheets against Gus Poyet’s men.

Elsewhere, the departure of 20 Gimcheon Sangmu players in midweek was felt for the military side in a 1-0 defeat against Pohang Steelers. Generally speaking, there wasn’t a great deal to split the two teams by, but the hosts were missing that extra spark that they’ve had throughout this season, and that left them unable to fight back with any real clinical edge once they had fallen behind to a precise Juninho Rocha free-kick. For Pohang, this win means that if they are to defeat FC Seoul next weekend, they are guaranteed a top-four finish.

That's all for this week! K League action returns next weekend with another full set of Saturday and Sunday fixtures.