Gwangju FC, in its first year of promotion in professional soccer’s K League One, defeated Ulsan Hyundai for the first time in eight years, extending its unbeaten streak to nine games.
With its 12th win of the season, Gwangju also set a new club record for most wins in the first division.
Gwangju defeated Ulsan 2-0 in the 29th round of the Hana OneQ K League 1 2023 away match at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Wednesday afternoon.
After a 0-1 home defeat against Ulsan on July 2, Gwangju went ‘unbeaten’ for the next two months.
With four wins and five draws in that span, Gwangju (W12 D9 L8 D45) has amassed 17 points and has remained in the top half of the table despite being labeled a promotion contender.
Unless Jeonbuk Hyundai (42 points) wins by seven or more goals in their next match, Gwangju will clinch third place in this round.
In addition, Gwangju has a “welcome win” over Ulsan after eight years.
The last time Gwangju beat Ulsan was away on July 11, 2015 (1-0). They lost the previous two meetings this season as well.
On top of that, they made history by winning the most points in the top flight of professional soccer since 2016 (11) during the K League Classic era.
On the other hand, Ulsan (19 wins, 4 draws and 7 losses – 61 points), who have won just one of their last five matches, failed to extend their lead over second-placed Pohang Steelers (53 points) to double digits on the day.
Gwangju opened the scoring thanks to the “tenacity” of Ha Seung-woon.
In the 17th minute of the first half, Ha Seung-woon created a scramble near the penalty area, winning a contest with opposing midfielders Lee Dong-kyung and Lee Kyu-sung.
A mistake between Lee Dong-kyung, Lee Kyu-sung, and Jeong Seung-hyun resulted in the ball inadvertently falling to the back of the net, where Lee Kun-hee quickly rushed into the box.
After beating goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo, who had moved forward to narrow the angle, Lee flicked the ball with his left foot into the Ulsan goal. Last defender Kim Young-kwon tried to clear it away with his body, but it was not enough.
Ulsan coach Hong Myung-bo made a change at the start of the second half, taking off Lee Dong-gyung and bringing on Uhm Won-sang, who is good at breaking through.
However, it was Gwangju who rattled the net in the second half. Nine minutes into the second half, Becca opened the Ulsan goal with a thunderous right-footed strike past Cho Hyun-woo.
After Lee Hee-gyun’s mid-range shot from the penalty spot bounced off the defense, Becca leaped in place and finished with a picturesque volley.
It was the first goal in the K League for the Georgian striker, who joined Gwangju in June.
A nervous Hong threw in the towel two minutes later, bringing on Lee In-gyu and Lee Cheong-yong.
When that didn’t change the situation, he brought on Swedish international midfielder Bojanic in place of Kim Min-hyuk in the 22nd minute and Kim Tae-hwan in place of Seol Young-woo in the 26th minute for a ‘total war’.
However, Ulsan was unable to overcome Gwangju’s defense, where Lee Soon-min, Ahn Young-kyu, and Aaron were focused, and had to accept a 0-2 defeat at home. 안전카지노사이트
