The K League 1 Wrap-Up: Pohang Steelers Find the Engine of Success Against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | OneFootball

After a high-scoring, exciting weekend of K League 1 action, columnist Nathan Sartain returns to recap all of the main talking points from round 27.

Pohang Steelers End Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' Unbeaten Run

The most headline-grabbing story of this week is simple: Pohang Steelers clinically ended Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ 22-game unbeaten streak in K League 1 action thanks to a euphoric 3-1 victory at the Steelyard.

This was a tightly-contested match - one where there wasn’t an abundance of clear-cut chances, yet still enough noticeable quality - however by the same token the occasion always seemed to favour Pohang. After all, the Steelers netted the opener through Jorge in a matter of seconds, and did not seem phased by a penalty equaliser given Park Seung-wook put his team back in front at the 24-minute mark. Just before half-time, a Jorge penalty made it 3-1, a scoreline that may look comfortable when on home turf, though carries plenty of risk when up against Gus Poyet’s incarnation of Jeonbuk.

However, Pohang managed the second-half seamlessly, limiting opposition chances, committing to every challenge, and learning from the kind of crushing blow their earlier comeback defeat at the Steelyard to Jeonbuk can afford. Now up to third, and boasting four consecutive wins, Park Tae-ha’s men are the in-form side in K League 1, knowing an away trip to Gangwon next week is a chance to cement their ACL Elite ambitions ahead of the September international break.

Gangwon FC Keep The Only Clean Sheet

In a high-scoring weekend of K League 1 action, only Gangwon FC managed a clean-sheet, one which came via a hard-fought 1-0 away victory against Gwangju FC. Following a string of draws, this was exactly what the Bears needed, showing the players’ willingness to dig deep, revert to nailing the basics before trying anything overly ambitious, and importantly rise to the occasion effectively when the pressure rises.

So, while this was not exactly a wall-to-wall entertaining performance, it’s the three points that counts most, as well as the fact Gangwon can now say they’ve kept 10 clean sheets in league competition this year. For reference, that’s two more than the Bears managed last season despite their second-place finish, and already the most they’ve earned in a campaign since 2021 (11).

FC Anyang Gain a Vital Victory

While the battle for safety continues to get tighter and tighter, FC Anyang kept pace with the competition thanks to a dramatic 3-2 win at home to Daejeon Hana Citizen. As the Violets have shown in their debut top-flight campaign, they are threatening when at their direct best, something their 21 attempts (13 on target) hammered home here, blowing away a Daejeon side that had initially struck within a minute to take the lead.

Did a red card for Daejeon help Anyang get the three points? Of course it did, but equally so the introduction of creative spark Matheus Oliveira into the game aided Ryu Byeong-hoon’s men in finding that extra gear. At first, the Brazilian’s main contribution was a composed curling free-kick to draw the teams level at 2-2, before he cooly slotted past goalkeeper Lee Jun-seo in stoppage time to secure a priceless win, in addition to his ninth goal of the season.

All in all, it has been an undeniably bumpy road for Anyang in the last couple of months, and they do still sit in 11th-place despite this positive result, but there should now be a renewed sense of optimism that the quality this squad possesses in attack is worthy of being competitive at the highest level, and survival is still a realistic, obtainable goal.

The Rest of the Relegation Battle

Elsewhere in the bottom portion of the table, Daegu FC again couldn’t emerge victorious, with an intriguing 2-2 draw against Jeju SK the best the Sky Blues managed. The reason why this game was so interesting was that the only real sustained portion of excitement came at once, bringing with it four goals in just under 10 minutes.

Initially, Kim Ryun-seong broke the deadlock, with the defender latching onto a deflected through ball to rifle the ball into the roof of the net. A Yuri own-goal would then serve as Daegu’s equaliser, prior to the Brazilian correcting his earlier error by beating the onrushing Han Tae-hee to a lingering cross. Nevertheless, Jeju could not make their lead last again, and Daegu’s own Brazilian star Cesinha scored a perfect headed goal of his own to give the Sky Blues their second draw in three matches.

Moving on, Suwon FC maintained their high-scoring run of form in a 3-2 defeat to Gimcheon Sangmu, and again drew on the qualities of summer signing Willyan, though will ultimately be disappointed at conceding the winner in stoppage time to a long-range Lee Dong-gyeong effort when goalkeeper Hwang Jae-yun was so far out of position.

A Note on FC Seoul

Staying in the top-four hunt themselves, FC Seoul responded to last weekend’s 6-2 humbling at the hands of Gimcheon Sangmu with a 3-2 triumph over reigning champions Ulsan HD. There was plenty of entertainment to be found here, not least from Hwang Do-yoon’s clean finish to make it 3-1, and while the capital city side can now feel more confident heading into a heated clash with FC Anyang in round 28, Ulsan HD know they again need to do better having lost three of their last four outings.

And that’s all for this week! After the second leg of the Korea Cup semi-finals, regular K League service resumes on Saturday 30th August.