K League-leading Ulsan seeking bounceback after suffering 1st loss of season

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- After hitting a speed bump, South Korean football leaders Ulsan Hyundai FC will look for a quick bounceback on the weekend against an opponent to whom they have never lost.

Ulsan dropped to Suwon Samsung Bluewings 1-0 on Thursday, the Children's Day holiday, for their first loss of the 2022 K League 1 season. Ulsan, which had seven wins and two draws prior to Thursday, went down a man 26 minutes into the match, with midfielder Kim Sung-joon getting sent off following a hard tackle on Ryu Seung-woo. They never found their offensive rhythm and were held scoreless for only the second time this season.

Elvis Saric scored the match's lone goal for Suwon in the 63rd minute, and gave his new head coach, Lee Byung-geun, his first win on Suwon's bench. The victory also snapped Suwon's seven-match winless skid.

The K League 1 season resumed Thursday following a monthlong break during the group stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champion League. Ulsan were one of three K League 1 clubs, along with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Daegu FC, to compete in that tournament, and Ulsan were the only one of the trio not to reach the knockout round.

Ulsan had two losses during the group stage at the AFC tournament and then lost the first match back in the domestic league.

Still, Ulsan had built enough of cushion at the top that the loss didn't affect their position in the league table. With 23 points, Ulsan lead Incheon United by four points.

Incheon wasted a golden opportunity to put pressure on Ulsan, by playing Suwon FC to a 2-2 draw. With the clock ticking down, Incheon forward Stefan Mugosa scored his eighth goal of the season, which kept him in a tie for first with Gimcheon Sangmu striker Cho Gue-sung.

Ulsan will have a great opportunity to get back into the win column on Sunday, when they visit Gangwon FC for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. In their 18 all-time meetings, Ulsan have not yet lost to Gangwon, with 14 wins and four draws.

Incheon will rue their missed chance on Thursday, because their opponent for Sunday's match will be Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, a team that has long had Incheon's number.

Jeonbuk are undefeated in their past 10 meetings against Incheon. The last Incheon victory over Jeonbuk came in March 2018.

Another highly anticipated match on Sunday will see Lee Byung-geun, the new Suwon Samsung Bluewings bench boss, go up against his former club, Daegu FC, for the first time.

Lee coached Daegu to a franchise-best third place last season while also taking them to the Korean FA Cup final. Daegu somehow decided not to bring back Lee despite those accomplishments, and Lee will now coach against Daegu in just his second match at Suwon's helm.

There is so much else riding on this match for both clubs. Daegu have fallen to 11th place, second from the bottom, with nine points, while Suwon sit only one point above them at 10.

Seongnam FC, the only club below Daegu, will visit Pohang Steelers on Sunday in pursuit of just their second win of 2022. This will be the first meeting between the two.

Also on Sunday, FC Seoul, undefeated in the last four matches, will host Suwon FC. Hwang In-beom, the national team midfielder who recently left Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, made his FC Seoul debut in Thursday's 1-1 draw against Jeonbuk.

Hwang began playing for the top-division Russian club Rubin Kazan in 2020. But after Russia was hit with sanctions for invading Ukraine in February, FIFA decided to temporarily allow foreign players based in Russia to suspend their contracts and play elsewhere. Hwang's deal with FC Seoul runs through June, but if he chooses to stay in the K League, FC Seoul will get to keep him for the rest of this season.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Jeju United will bring home Gimcheon Sangmu in a battle of fourth- and fifth-ranked clubs.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
(END)