‘Hyundai,’ the eternal champion of the professional soccer K League 1, rivals Ulsan Hyundai and Jeonbuk Hyundai were put in a polar situation at the beginning of the season. Defending champion Ulsan is on the road to winning 2 consecutive victories with 5 consecutive victories in the opening season, while Jeonbuk is resisting, with fans even ‘cheering boycott’ as they only have 1 win in 5 matches.
Ulsan won 5 consecutive wins (15 points) by defeating Jeju United 3-1 in the 5th round of the Hana One Q K League 1 2023 season held at Jeju World Cup Stadium on the 2nd. The gap with second place Daejeon Hana Citizen also widened to 4 points,메이저사이트 consolidating the lead.
Ulsan scored 3 goals in the first half alone and seized the victory early. In the 6th minute of the first half, Lee Myeong-jae’s corner kick brushed the head of Park Yong-woo, who overcame the competition with the Jeju defense, and headed right in front of Jung Seung-hyun in front of the goal.
11 minutes later Ju Min-kyu’s wonder goal was scored. In the 17th minute of the first half, Kang Yun-gu stole the ball from Jeju and put a low pass to Eom Won-sang, who was heading to the opponent’s penalty box. Joo Min-gyu kicked the ball with his right foot near the penalty box without hesitation, and it was sucked into the top-right corner of the Jeju goal, making it 2-0. Joo Min-gyu, who moved from Jeju to Ulsan this season, scored a goal in his first visit to his home team after moving.
In the 28th minute of the first half, Jeju goalkeeper’s fatal mistake led to Ulsan’s wedge goal. Under pressure from Ulsan, the Jeju defense turned the ball to the goalkeeper from behind, but Jeju goalkeeper Kim Dong-joon slipped trying to catch it, and Ulsan’s Gang Yun-goo rushed to kick it back.
Jeju caught up with one point in the first minute of extra time when Yuri Jonatan succeeded in a penalty kick awarded for a handball foul by Ulsan Kim Yeong-gwon. However, in the second half, neither team scored and Ulsan won.
Ulsan’s opening five consecutive wins is the fourth in K-League history, and the first record in 20 years since Seongnam Ilhwa (7 consecutive wins) in 2003. In addition, Suwon Samsung (7 consecutive wins) in 1998 and Jeju (5 consecutive wins) in 1999 are the only ones with more than 5 consecutive wins in the opening season.
The situation with rival Jeonbuk is the exact opposite. Jeonbuk suffered a 2-game losing streak in the league match against Pohang Steelers held at Jeonju World Cup Stadium the previous day, 1-2. In the 16th minute of the first half, Ryu Jae-moon’s shot hit the opponent’s defense and led to the opening goal, but in the 12th minute of the second half he dedicated an equalizer to Baek Sung-dong, and in the 8th minute of extra time in the second half he gave away a theatrical goal to Jeka and failed to avoid defeat.
Jeonbuk is at the bottom of the league with 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses (4 points) from 5 matches. This is an awkward ranking for a prestigious team that has won the most wins (9 times) in the K-League 1. Jeonbuk also showed a sluggish performance last season with 1 win, 1 draw and 4 losses in 6 games after the opening, and fell to 11th place in the league. Although they belatedly pursued, they could not narrow the points gap and had to give up the championship to rival Ulsan.
Fans are increasingly disappointed with the sluggish early season for two consecutive seasons. About 12,000 spectators came to Pohang, but Jeonju’s home fans expressed dissatisfaction with a cheering boycott. After the game was lost, a confrontation occurred for a while as fans blocked the club bus trying to leave the stadium.