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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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On the 26th, the parking lot of the Seoul World Cup Stadium, which had been crowded throughout the season, was particularly quiet. The number of reporters who visited the site was also smaller than usual. Seoul and away team Gangwon confirmed their advance to the Final A group through the final match of the 33rd round of the regular league 'Hana Bank K League 1 2025'. Since the difference of more than six points between the second and fourth places, which are qualified for the Asian Champions League (ACLE), even if they won on this day, they could not raise the ranking to more than fourth place. At the same time, there was little interest in Incheon-Gyeongnam match and Ulsan-Daegu's fierce remaining battle, where Incheon United's early victory in the K League 2 was decided. But it doesn't necessarily have to be 'no fun' The most thrilling match of this round was produced.
The winner of the fierce battle for fifth place was Seoul. The away team Gangwon led 2-0 in the 11th minute of the first half and the 5th minute of the second half with consecutive goals by Kim Gun-hee and Mo Jae-hyun. Seoul, which had been consistent with its worst poor performance, wrote a reversal drama in the second half. The second half was 'Lingard One Man Show'. Lingard, who replaced in the second half, scored consecutive chasing goals and equalizer at intervals of 27 minutes and 32 minutes and 5 minutes. Ryu Jae-moon of Seoul, who gained momentum, scored the come-from-behind winning goal with a picturesque mid-range shot in the 34th minute. In the 9th minute of extra time in the second half, Chun Sung-hoon scored a decisive goal, and the game ended with Seoul's 4-2 come-from-behind victory. Seoul, which won for the first time in four games in front of its home fans and made a come-from-behind victory of the season, remained in fifth place with 12 wins, 12 draws and 10 losses and 48 points. It widened the point gap to four against sixth-ranked Gangwon (44 points), which had five consecutive winless games. He is three points behind fourth-place Pohang (51 points), which has played one less game.
There was a constant stream of tension between the two teams. Gangwon coach Chung Kyung-ho said, `We are challengers. In the final round, I want to go up to 5th place with only Seoul," declared the declaration of war. Coach Kim did not say 'I will catch Gangwon', but his will to beat Gangwon at home was read by excluding captain Lingard, who was less involved in defense, from the start. Seoul set up Cho Young-wook's banks as a two-top and set up a midfield team with Jung Seung-won, Lee Seung-mo, Choi Jun and Andersson. Park Soo-il, Park Sung-hoon, Yazan, and Kim Jin-soo lined up as four backs. Kang Hyun-moo returned to the starting lineup 71 days after the game against Gimcheon in July. Looking at Seoul's decision to bench Lingard, coach Chung said, `I think Seoul is determined to catch us.'
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Gangwon has put in all of its best members. Kim Gun-hee and Lee Sang-heon took charge of the two-top, while Mo Jae-hyun, Seo Min-woo, Lee Yoo-hyun, and Kim Dae-won formed the midfield. Kang Joon-hyuk's Kang fighting spirit and Shin Min-ha Hong-cheol set up four bags. Park Chung-hyo defended the goal. The economy has been in the current state of affairs. Gangwon defeated Vissel Kobe 4-3 in the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) during the week, and Seoul lost 0-2 in the away match in Shenhua, Shanghai. It was Gangwon-do's pace from the beginning. Seoul caused a crisis with a rudimentary pass miss, as if it were the first team to work together today. In particular, the path to midfield in the final defense was cut off. Gangwon's pressure tactics, which did not give up space to the opponent, were also outstanding.
Gangwon scored the first goal in the 11th minute of the first half. Kang Jun-hyuk poked a pass to Kim Dae-won, who was running toward the back space of the defense on the left side of Seoul. Kim Dae-won, who caught the ball, stabbed a low cross toward the gate, and Kim Gun-hee shook the net with a calm right-footed shot in a no-mark situation. Kim Gun-hee, who scored the theater winning goal in the match against Kobe, showed his highest scoring ability by scoring three goals in October alone. On the other hand, Seoul repeatedly gave up the first run in the first half for three consecutive games. There has been no worse start for Seoul, which has never won a come-from-behind victory in a game that gave up the first run this season. In the previous round against Pohang, Seoul lost 1-2 to Lee Ho-jae in the 28th minute of the first half.
Seoul's counteroffensive was not fierce. In the 22nd minute, Lee Seung-mo attempted a header at the near post, but it went wide of the net. In the 32nd minute, Seoul faced an additional loss crisis. Kim Jin-soo pushed Kim Gun-hee in Gangwon's free kick situation. Referee Ko Hyung-jin conducted a VAR on-field review to check for penalty kicks. Fortunately, from Seoul's point of view, the penalty was not declared because it was judged as 'light contact'. In the 39th minute, Kim Jin-soo's mid-range shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, and Gangwon finished with a 1-0 lead in the first half.
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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| photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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Seoul launched a counterattack by excluding midfielder Lee Seung-mo, who was sluggish at half-time, and putting in Hwang Do-yoon. Gangwon traded Kim Gun-hee for Koo Bon-cheol. In the 7th minute of the second half, the team that cut the net was Gangwon again this time. Choi Joon completely missed Mo Jae-hyun running in front of the goal in Gangwon's corner kick situation. After that, he caught Mo Jae-hyun from the back and knocked him down, and the referee took the penalty point without much thought. Kim, who was protesting the decision, was warned. Mo Jae-hyun, who played kicker, calmly scored an additional goal.
Seoul, which had continued its worst poor performance, showed a winning move in the 19th minute. Lingard and Moon Seon-min Ryu Jae-moon were put in except for Banks and Jeong Seung-won and Park Su-il. Choi Joon returned to the fullback position. Gangwon-do Province's Lee Yoo-hyun and Hong Cheol were brought to the bench and Kim Dae-woo and Lee Ki-hyuk were put in to fill up the energy. In the 20th minute, Koo Bon-cheol's shot, which dug into the back space of Seoul, hit Yazan and Kang Hyun-mung one after another. Koo Bon-cheol tactfully tried to lob a shot, but it went over the net. Yazan's left-footed mid-range shot, which took part in the attack in the 22nd minute, went off the post and was ineffective.
Seoul scored a comeback goal in the 27th minute, drawing the spark of the chase. Moon Sun-min caught Hwang Do-yoon's pass to the right space and floated a right-footed cross toward the gate. Lingard pushed it to the header. In the 31st minute, Gangwon put in Yoon Il-rok without Lee Sang-heon. Lingard's comeback goal effect was huge. The momentum has completely crossed into Seoul. Gangwon, which put in the main lineup in the first half, seemed tired.
Seoul scored the equalizer in the 32nd minute. Lingard stabbed a diagonal cross toward the gate at the left diagonal point of the opponent's camp. The ball that left Lingard's foot was sucked into the net without hitting either team's players. Seoul turned the game around two minutes later. Ryu Jae-moon connected the ball cleared by Gangwon's defense in a chaotic situation with a right-footed shot and inserted the ball accurately into the bottom right of the goal.
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Gangwon brought Lee Ki-hyuk back to the bench in the 37th minute and put Kim Do-hyun in. Seoul put in Chun Sung-hoon in the 41st minute without Cho Young-wook. Lingard's shot in the 41st minute went straight to the goalkeeper. 44 min Seoul lost the chance to run away. Moon Seon-min, who received Lingard's pass, quickly ran to the penalty area and faced a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, but the shot was blocked without any strength. 45 min Kim Do-hyun's shot went off the post. In the 8th minute of extra time, Moon Sun-min missed another situation that was like a goal. Kim Jin-soo passed the pass to Moon Sun-min in front of the goal to avoid the goalkeeper on the left side of the penalty area. However, Moon Seon-min's 'girl shot' was blocked by the opponent's defender's clearing. However, Moon Seon-min created a perfect chance by giving up a pass to Chun Sung-hoon on the right side without overdoing it this time in the attack situation that came back a minute later, and Chun Sung-hoon calmly scored the net. Seoul won 4-2.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
