Ulsan gave Song Min-gyu the opening goal 10 minutes following the start in the Hana 1 Q K-League 1 2023 Round 1 home game once morest Jeonbuk held at Ulsan Munsu Soccer Stadium on the 25th, but later, thanks to consecutive goals from Eom Won-sang and Rubiksson, they went 2-1. came from behind
Ulsan, who reached the top of the K-League 1 last season and succeeded in ‘winning the championship’ for the first time in 17 years, took 3 points in an important match to enter the title defense season.
On the other hand, Jeonbuk, which had to be satisfied with winning the Korea Football Association (FA) Cup following failing to achieve its 6th consecutive league title by finishing runner-up to Ulsan last year, started the season by allowing Ulsan to take the lead.
In addition, Jeonbuk might not continue the record that had not been lost in the opening game for 11 consecutive seasons since 2012.
On this day, Ulsan put Ju Min-gyu, a top scorer who returned following four seasons to Jeju United, at the forefront of the attack.
Bako, Kang Yun-goo, and Eom Won-sang were in the second line, and Park Yong-woo and Lee Gyu-seong were in the midfield. Seol Young-woo, Kim Young-kwon, Jeong Seung-hyun, and Kim Tae-hwan formed a four-back defense, and Cho Hyun-woo protected the goal.
In Jeonbuk, ‘Qatar World Cup star’ Cho Kyu-seong took the lead, and Song Min-gyu, Amano Jun, and Lee Dong-jun were placed in the second line.
Ulsan Um Won-sang and Rubikson’s consecutive goals overturned Jeonbuk 2-1
Amano moved from Ulsan to Jeonbuk ahead of this season and is the protagonist who sparked the ‘off-field nerve war’ between the two teams, and Lee Dong-jun also played an active part in Ulsan in the 2021 season.
Baek Seung-ho and Kim Geon-woong worked together in Jeonbuk’s midfield, and the defense team consisted of Kim Jin-soo, Park Jin-seop, Hong Jeong-ho and Kim Moon-hwan. The goalkeeper gloves were worn by Kim Jeong-hun, a U-22 resource.
Starting with the ‘Guard of Honor’, where Ulsan players, the winning team from last season, enter while receiving applause from Amano and other Jeonbuk players, Jeonbuk kicked off the game.
In the 10th minute of the first half, Song Min-gyu became the protagonist of the first goal of the entire K-League 1 season.
Near the penalty arc, Song Min-gyu overcame a physical struggle with the opponent and passed the ball to the left, and Dong-jun Lee connected the pass Amano stabbed into the penalty area with a left-footed shot to shake the net.
U-22 resource Kang Yun-goo was replaced by Japan’s “new face” Esaka Ataru in the 14th minute, and Ulsan, which showed an improved offensive flow, succeeded in counterattacking before the end of the first half.
In the 43rd minute of the first half, Bako’s shot in the center of the penalty area came out of contention, and Eom Won-sang hit it with his right foot to equalize.
In the 8th minute of the second half, Ulsan replaced Um Won-sang with the newly joined Swedish Rubikson, and Jeonbuk replaced Lee Dong-jun with Moon Seon-min, and in the 14th minute, Jeonbuk replaced Amano with Andre.
And in the 19th minute of the second half, Ulsan turned the tide.
Jeonbuk goalkeeper Kim Jeong-hoon tried to trap a teammate’s back pass, and Rubikson, who was pressuring nearby, stole the ball, drove it in, and scored his debut goal in the K-League.
In the 26th minute of the second half, Jeonbuk replaced Song Min-gyu and Kim Moon-hwan with Han Kyo-won and transfer defender Jeong Tae-wook to try to make up for it, but Ulsan, which built a solid wall amidst active participation in defense by Rubikson and Park Yong-woo, did not collapse easily.
In the 43rd minute of the second half, Ulsan kept Bako, Lee Kyu-seong, and Joo Min-gyu out, but Martin Adam, Jo Hyeon-taek, and Kim Min-hyeok were relaxed and managed to secure a victory by one goal.
FC Seoul beat Incheon United 2-1 in the ‘Gyeongin Derby’ held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Seoul laughed from the first game for the second year in a row following the opening match of last season when they defeated Daegu FC 2-0.
Seoul, which was inferior in last year’s Gyeongin Derby with 2 draws and 1 loss, caught Incheon from the start and made people look forward to the new season.
The match on this day also raised expectations as a return match for national striker Hwang Ui-jo, who returned to the K-League following 6 years.
However, the player who stood out more than Hwang Eui-jo at the beginning of the game was another transfer student Im Sang-hyup.
From the beginning of the game, Im Sang-hyeop, who had been running behind Incheon without hesitation, wound up with his left foot in front of the penalty arc in the 29th minute of the first half, eventually scoring Seoul’s first goal of the season.
In the 17th minute of the second half, Lim Sang-hyeop once once more ran through the space behind the left side of the opponent and created a shooting opportunity for Na Sang-ho, who jumped into the center. However, Na Sang-ho’s shot hit the goal post, and he might not write more attack points.
The raging Seoul scored the winning goal 8 minutes later when Ki Sung-yueng’s corner kick went over goalkeeper Kim Dong-heon’s outstretched arm and landed on Kim Joo-sung’s head.
In the 42nd minute of the second half, Incheon took advantage of the chaos in front of the goal, and Oh Ban-seok made up for a goal, but might not turn the game around.
At the Suwon World Cup Stadium, the ‘promoted team’ Gwangju FC, who went on an expedition, defeated Suwon Samsung 1-0 and decorated the first division return match with a victory.
Even until the 2021 season, Gwangju, which was relegated following competing in the K-League 1, was promoted to the 1st division once more last season by achieving the highest number of points (86) ever in the 2nd division.
Following last season, Suwon started this season in a difficult way by losing the opening match.
It was Asani, a foreign player who made his K-League debut, that broke the 0-0 balance that lasted until the end of the second half.
In the 43rd minute of the second half, Asani, who received a penetrating pass from Jeong Ho-yeon, dug into the left side of the penalty box and shook the net with a left-footed shot.
On the other hand, 28,039 people, the largest number of spectators in the K-League since the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) pandemic, entered Ulsan Munsu Soccer Stadium that day.
More than 20,000 spectators (22,204) visited the Seoul World Cup Stadium, and 10,348 people entered the Suwon World Cup Stadium.
