football-season
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| ▲ Kim Min-jun of Ulsan Hyundai FC celebrates his goal against Pohang Steelers during the clubs' K League 1 match at Pohang Steel Yard in Pohang, 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 13, 2021, in this photo provided by the Korea Professional Football League. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Kim Gun-hee of Suwon Samsung Bluewings (L) tries to dribble past Han Kook-young of Gangwon FC during their clubs' K League 1 match at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 14, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Stanislav Iljutcenko of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors celebrates his goal against Gwangju FC during the clubs' K League 1 match at Gwangju Football Stadium in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 13, 2021, in this photo provided by the Korea Professional Football League. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Fans take in a K League 1 match between the home team Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Gangwon FC at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, on March 14, 2021. (Yonhap) |
football-season
Preseason favorites rise to top early in K League season
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- With a combination of an opportunistic offense and strong defense, the two preseason title favorites in the K League 1 have emerged at the top of the tables.
Four matches into the 2021 season, Ulsan Hyundai FC and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are both undefeated with three wins and one draw apiece. Ulsan are in first place for now, thanks to their edge in the first tiebreaker, goals scored, at 10-7. At 10 points each, these two giants remain two ahead of the next-best club, Suwon Samsung Bluewings, also undefeated with two wins and two draws.
With first-year coach Hong Myung-bo at the helm, Ulsan have scored the most goals in the K League 1 so far, though they've been held to one goal in each of the past two matches, including a 1-1 draw versus Pohang Steelers on Saturday.
One silver lining from that draw was the play of rookie Kim Min-jun. The 21-year-old had Ulsan's lone goal in that game and has now scored two goals in as many starts.
Jeonbuk, trying to win a record fourth consecutive title under new boss Kim Sang-sik, are coming off a 2-0 victory over Gwangju FC on Saturday.
Whereas Ulsan's offense, which generated eight goals in the first two matches, seems to have cooled off a bit, Jeonbuk appear to be rounding into form after a sluggish start by their lofty standards.
It's another quick turnaround for both clubs: Ulsan, which have played three matches in the past nine days, will host Jeju United at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, 415 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Tuesday.
Also that day, Jeonbuk will host Daegu FC after two days off at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, 240 kilometers south of the capital.
Ulsan will be running into one of the K League's stingiest defenses. Jeju, promoted from the K League 2, are undefeated with one win and three draws, and have surrendered just two goals so far.
Jeonbuk will be licking their chops against Daegu, which are searching for their first win of the year after posting two draws and two losses. They have conceded eight goals so far, the second most behind Gangwon FC's 11.
Gangwon earned their first point of the season with a 1-1 draw against Suwon Samsung Bluewings. Gangwon couldn't make Vladimir Siladi's 10th-minute goal stand. They will take another crack at their first win of 2021 on Wednesday against Seongnam FC, which have won two in a row.
Suwon FC, the other winless club sitting just above Gangwon in 11th place, appear to have a better chance of ending their skid Wednesday. They'll take on Incheon United, which have dropped two in a row after an encouraging, 2-1 victory over Daegu FC on March 6.
FC Seoul continued their pattern of following up a loss with a win, as they blanked Incheon 1-0 on Saturday after falling to Seongnam 1-0 three days earlier.
They'll have an intriguing coaching duel against Gwangju FC at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Seoul World Cup Stadium. FC Seoul boss Park Jin-sub had coached Gwangju for the previous three seasons before taking over the current team. Park's successor on Gwangju's bench is Kim Ho-young, who briefly served as FC Seoul's caretaker coach last season.
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