The K League 1 Wrap-Up: FC Seoul Earn Derby Victory, Lee Ji-ho Rescues Gangwon, and Daegu Stride Into First | OneFootball

After another noteworthy week of K League 1 action, Nathan Sartain returns with another column discussing the key talking points from the weekend's fixtures.

Amidst all of the anticipation going into FC Seoul’s derby clash with FC Anyang, Kim Gi-dong’s men put forward an assured performance to secure their first win of the 2025 season. Both Jesse Lingard and Lucas Rodrigues scored extremely well taken goals, and Seoul in general looked ready for any challenge that may come their way. Regardless of the occasion, it was a marked improvement on last week's display for the capital city side, and they'll want to take that momentum into next Monday's clash with Gimcheon Sangmu.

Nevertheless, Anyang do deserve credit themselves. This was undoubtedly an emotional game for them, but they showed plenty of steel, resilience, and the type of intangible qualities that can come in handy as they seek to establish themselves as a consistent top-flight outfit. If anything is clear from these first two games anyway, it’s that Anyang will not be backing down against any side.

Daegu's Exciting Start

For Daegu, consecutive victories against two teams from last year’s Final A will give their fans reason to believe this campaign will be far better than 2024. The Sky Blues have been good value for money in their opening couple of games, attacking with purpose, and flourishing with the returning Bruno Lamas back in the mix.

In their 3-1 win against Suwon FC, Daegu were thoroughly entertaining, full of energy, and buoyed by the same type of self-belief which carried them to a comeback victory in round one. There just seems to be the right type of feel around the club at the moment, and indications that Park Chang-hyun has adapted to a more proactive style, knowing what benefits it has brought other teams in the division in recent years (Gwangju, Gangwon, Suwon, Gimcheon, for example).

Gangwon, Gimcheon, Ulsan Off the Mark

After last season's top three all lost their opening round matches, the same trio again followed each other's lead this week, getting their first wins of the season.

Gimcheon were the first off the mark, beating Jeju SK 3-2 in a match full of action. On the balance of play, the military side had the far better chances - though actually found themselves trailing twice - and will probably wish they didn’t need to leave it so late to secure the three points. Still, Jeju did play well in transition, with new signing Yu In-soo already looking comfortable on the wing for the Islanders in their current tactical setup.

Then it was Ulsan’s turn, where they were confident in a 2-0 away victory against Daejeon Hana Citizen. The Horangi’s defence was seldom tested until the final minutes of the game, and really it was a secure showing for Kim Pan-gon’s men, as they immediately put last week’s defeat to newcomers FC Anyang behind them.

However, Gangwon chose the dramatic route for their first victory. Chasing the game for around 40 minutes after Lee Ho-jae put Pohang in front, Lee Ji-ho equalised in the 82nd minute, before scoring an injury time winner. Both times the 22-year-old capitalised on long balls testing the Steelers’ defence, drawing goalkeeper Hwang In-jae off his line and leaving the centre-backs struggling to deal with the direct pressure. Still, despite what the late nature of the win may suggest, Gangwon deserved the three points, and as such Jung Kyung-ho can take plenty of positives from his first win in full-time management.

Bottom-Place Pohang

Perhaps surprisingly given we’re only two games into the new season, Pohang Steelers are the only club without at least one point on the board. It was another day to forget on Sunday for Park Tae-ha’s men, where two late goals condemned them to an away defeat at Gangwon. Throw two heavy AFC Champions League Elite defeats in there too, and the Steelers’ start to 2025 has certainly been one to forget, particularly given their Korea Cup victory at the end of last season seemed to signal that 2024 was going to be looked back on as a positive season of transition, despite their patchy K League 1 form from July onwards.

The Miscellaneous Stuff

Are Gangwon in the conversation when it comes to being one of Korea’s best teams at utilising young players? It certainly feels like in recent years, the Bears have helped their youth prospects thrive, and afforded plenty of opportunities to not only those who would classify as an U22 option, but those just past that age threshold as well. Under Choi Yong-soo you saw Yang Hyun-jun, Park Sang-hyeok, and Kim Jin-ho brought through and given defined roles. During Yoon Jong-hwan’s tenure, you can add the likes of Lee Seung-won, Ryu Kwang-hyun, Jo Hyun-tae, Cho Jin-hyuk, Shin Min-ha, Yang Min-hyuk, and Jin Jun-seo to the list of names. Now, Lee Ji-ho is being trusted in the first-team under Jung Kyung-ho, leaving hopeful signs that Gangwon will continue to back their younger players, invest in their development with meaningful minutes on the pitch, and then in turn be rewarded for it like they were on Sunday.

To move onto Jeonbuk, they seem to have a lot more belief already under Gus Poyet. Their attack seems refreshed, their confidence in fighting back from losing positions a lot more composed, and on the whole a lot of positive signs are being shown. Thus, they'll probably take the 2-2 against Gwangju given they were behind on two occasions, knowing they’re on the right tracks at least.

Finally, it’s nice to see Heo Yool continued to be used as a striker again. His centre-back experiment seems to be in the rear-view mirror for good now, which will only be a benefit going forward. After all, the 23-year-old has the profile of a target-man, great aerial presence, and is far more adept in attacking a box than he is defending it.

And that's all for week two! This year of K League 1 action could well turn out to be quite unpredictable all things considered, as again the competitiveness of the top-flight was reaffirmed in this week’s round of fixtures, where lots of last week's losing clubs came out on the winning side.