K-League 1 Ulsan and Pohang Challenge to Take the Lead
K-League 1 Ulsan and Pohang challenge to take the lead in the 'East Coast Derby'
Will ‘Captain’ Lingard hit a field goal? Seoul, aiming for victory against Jeonbuk for the first time in 7 years.
Jeonbuk's Kim Doo-hyun's debut win as head coach of 'bottom place', will it be Lee Yoo-run this time?
Professional soccer K League 1 Ulsan HD will defend its lead in the 'East Coast Derby' against Pohang Steelers.
Ulsan will face Pohang in the away game of the 20th round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 held at the Pohang Steel Yard in Gyeongbuk on the 30th.
East Coast rivals Ulsan and Pohang have been fiercely competing for the top spot since the beginning of this season.
Until the middle of last month, Pohang was one step ahead, and Ulsan was chasing it. 안전놀이터
Now, whenever Ulsan is slightly ahead, Pohang is chasing it at a fast pace.
Ulsan is in better shape recently.
1st place Ulsan (38 points) is in good spirits with 4 wins, 2 draws, and an undefeated streak in 6 league games.
During this period, Ulsan's main gun Joo Min-gyu scored 4 goals and accumulated 7 league goals.
Min-gyu Joo, who scored his A-match debut goal in the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asia Preliminaries wearing the Taegeuk symbol, scored goals in two consecutive games right after the A-match break and even recorded multiple goals.
Top scorers Lee Seung-woo (Suwon FC), Ilyuchenko (Seoul), and Mugosa (Incheon, 9 goals) are now just around the corner.
Joo Min-gyu, who was selected to the national team for the first time in his career this year, is determined to continue the momentum of his 'A-match debut goal' and set the stage for becoming the top scorer for the second consecutive year by scoring in the game against Pohang.
Pohang (34 points) is in third place, following first-place Ulsan and second-place Gimcheon Sangmu (36 points).
The point gap between Pohang and Ulsan is 4.
It is the largest gap between Pohang and the leading team this season.
Pohang must win the home game against Ulsan.
If they lose this game, it is essentially the same as losing 6 points.
They also need to avenge their 0-1 loss to Ulsan in the opening game of Round 1.
If Pohang, which has not won consecutive games since the 4th of last month, can beat Ulsan at home, it can raise the team spirit to more than just a winning streak.
FC Seoul will play an away game against Jeonbuk Hyundai at Jeonju World Cup Stadium on the 29th.
If Seoul wins the match against Jeonbuk, it will be able to gain an advantageous position in the fierce 'mid-ranking battle' compared to the upper ranks.
Looking at the mid-to-lower ranks, 6th place Seoul (24 points), 7th place Jeju United (23 points), 8th place Gwangju FC (22 points), 9th place Incheon United (20 points), and 10th place Daegu FC (20 points) are closely tied with only 1-2 points.
They could fall into the relegation zone in an instant with just one or two matches.
Attention is being paid to whether 'captain' Jesse Lingard can lead Seoul's 'leap' with his first field goal
in the K League. Lingard, who temporarily wore the captain's armband due to Ki Sung-yong's injury, scored his debut K League goal with a penalty kick in the 19th round match against Gangwon FC on the 26th, leading Seoul to its first consecutive win of the season.
Seoul is in a better mood than ever and is trying to break the jinx against Jeonbuk.
Seoul's last win against Jeonbuk was in July 2017.
After losing 15 games and drawing 5 in the 20 games since then, Seoul has conceded points and hurt their pride, but they are trying to win against Jeonbuk for the first time in 7 years.
Fans are now looking forward to seeing Lingard score a wonderful field goal to lead the team to a 3-game winning streak and break the jinx against Jeonbuk by doing a 'pipe blowing' ceremony.
The 'fallen powerhouse' Jeonbuk has nowhere to retreat.
It's been over a month since Manager Kim Du-hyeon took over as the commander on the 27th of last month, but Jeonbuk still hasn't won a game.
Under Kim Du-hyeon, Jeonbuk has only suffered 2 draws and 4 losses in 6 official matches, including 2 draws and 3 losses in the league and 1 loss in the Korea Cup.
Jeonbuk, which is in last place, has only 3 wins (7 draws and 9 losses) this season.
It's the lowest in the league.
They have 16 points.
The gap with 11th place Daejeon Hana Citizen (18 points) widens, making it harder to escape last place.
The later the victory, the less effective the managerial change will be.
The dark shadow of automatic relegation cast over Jeonbuk is also growing darker.
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