Let's go to Sangam! Gwangju advances to the final of the Korea Cup for the first time since its foundation! 21 come-from-behind victory over Bucheon

Aug 27, 2025

"Let's go to Sangam!" Gwangju FC advanced to the Korea Cup final for the first time since its foundation.

Gwangju came from behind to win 2-1 against Bucheon FC at 7:30 p.m. on the 27th in the second round of the semifinals of the '2025 Hana Bank Korea Cup'. Gwangju, which won 2-0 with consecutive goals by Jung Ji-hoon and Hayes in the first round of the Korea Cup semifinals at home on the 20th, succeeded in advancing to the final with a total of 4-1 in the first and second games. Gwangju, which unfortunately failed to reach the final after being held back by Ulsan in the semifinals last season, finally won a ticket to the Korea Cup final. Bucheon, which also tried to go to the final for the first time, unfortunately failed to cross the last threshold.

Bucheon lost its strength on this day as well. Lee Eui-hyung stepped up as a one-top, and Kim Dong-hyun and Gallego sat on the left and right. Kaz and Park Hyun-bin stood in the midfield, while Kim Kyu-min and Jang Si-young stepped up as left and right wingbacks. The three-back was achieved by Lee Jae-won, Lee Sang-hyuk, and Lee Ye-chan. Kim Hyun-yeop wore goalkeeper gloves. Vasani, Montagno, Tia Gingyo, and Park Chang-jun sat on the bench.

Gwangju was relatively powerful. Fried Jonsson and Moon Min-seo were at the forefront, while Jung Ji-hoon, Lee Kang-hyun, Yoo Je-ho and Oh Soo-sung were in midfield. Ha Seung-woon, Jin Si-woo, Byun Jun-su, and Cho Sung-kwon organized the four-bag. Kim Kyung-min defended the goal. Hayes, Choi Kyung-rok, Shim Sang-min and Ju Se-jong started from the bench.

Coach Lee Jung-hyo, whom I met before the game, said, `Of course, I have a desire to go to the final. I think the players will focus more on playing the league only if they schedule it by December 6th when the Korea Cup final will be held." Then "We tend to lose less points. In the end, I try to score goals because I don't have goals. Fried Jonsson's goal was an adventure to score a goal in the end," he said with a smile. "If we go to the final for the first time since the club's foundation, I think we will feel good, if not as good as the match against Kobe."

Coach Lee Young-min devised how to play the first and second games. To be honest, there was no Korea Cup victory among our goals this year. Our goal is promotion. The league comes first. We had to allocate time because we had to go on an away trip to Gyeongnam." "Because of the two-goal kick, I'm going to be more aggressive even if I take risks from a high position. "Many of the players who started now also played in the league. It's worth looking forward to. We're definitely not the main team. I made a list according to my condition. We will set the timing of putting in foreign players after looking at the situation. In my head, I've already done a simulation."

Bucheon pushed hard from the beginning. Gallego broke through in the fourth minute of the first half and dug in front of the gate. I tried to shoot with my left foot. It came up. In the 16th minute, Bucheon fired another sharp shot. Lee Sang-hyuk hit a powerful right-footed shot from a distance. Kim Kyung-min blocked it nicely. Bucheon's offensive continued, but the closing cross was disappointing.

Bucheon kept knocking on the Gwangju goal. In the 24th minute, Kim Dong-hyun tried to shoot with his right foot from the left side of the box, but he crossed the crossbar. Soon after, Gallego broke through and fired a left-footed shot, but was blocked by the opponent's defense's hand-to-hand defense. In the 31st minute, Gallego fired a powerful left-footed shot with a 2-1 pass, but headed straight for the goalkeeper.

Bucheon, which continued to target Gwangju, scored the first goal. 46 min Gallego broke through from the right and hit a powerful left-footed shot. Kim Kyung-min went straight to the front, but he missed it while catching it. Lee Eui-hyung pushed the ball in. Gwangju, which was hit by an unexpected blow, fought back. 47 min Friedjohnson header a cross from the right. Slightly over the crossbar.

Bucheon missed a golden opportunity to bring the game back to square one. In the 49th minute, a free kick from the left went to the back of Gwangju's defense, and Lee Ye-chan, who was a no-mark, connected with a shot, but the ball went off the post. In the end, Bucheon's 1-0 lead ended the first half.

Gwangju made changes first at the start of the second half. Fried Jonsson was taken out and Hayes was put in. In the 7th minute of the second half, Gwangju got a free kick opportunity in a good position. Hayes stepped up as a kicker, but was blocked by the Bucheon defensive wall. Gwangju scored the equalizer in the 10th minute. Jung Ji-hoon broke through the right and scored an accurate cross. Cho Sung-kwon, who participated in the attack, pushed it to the header.

11 min Bucheon changed two players. Except for Kim Kyu-min and Park Hyun-bin, I added T-A-Ging and Choi Jae-young. In the 21st minute, Gwangju put in Shin Chang-moo Choi Kyung-rok, and Bucheon put in Montagno and Vasani. Both teams played the game. Bucheon went all out in the 28th minute with Park Chang-joon.

Gwangju turned the game around. In the 45th minute, Choi Kyung-rok broke through the right and crossed with a ground ball. Shin Chang-moo jumped in and hit a powerful left-footed shot. This still shook the Bucheon net. Gwangju strengthened its defense by putting in Anyang-gyu in the 39th minute. 41 min Gwangju missed the opportunity to score an additional goal. Choi Kyung-rok moved from the right to the center and hit a left-footed shot. When the goalkeeper was blocked, Shin Chang-moo connected the rebound ball with a shot. But it went over the net.

In the 44th minute, Shin Chang-moo had a chance to face the goalkeeper, but was blocked by goalkeeper Kim Hyun-yeop. Bucheon was aggressive for the equalizer the rest of the time, but Gwangju's defensive wall was thick. In the 48th minute, Basani fired a sharp shot, but it went off the defense. Basani's subsequent shot also shone. In the end, Gwangju won 2-1 and the result was the first Korea Cup final.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.