Defending K League 1 champions and sole leaders Ulsan Hyundai have reached the 50-point plateau after 20 games.
Ulsan defeated Gwangju FC 1-0 away in the 20th round of the Hana OneQ K League 2023 on Sunday at the Gwangju Football Stadium.
Ulsan, which has won four straight matches, has 16 wins, two draws, and two losses with 50 points. It is the first time in five seasons that a team has reached 50 points after 20 games since Jeonbuk Hyundai in 2018. Back then, Jeonbuk won the title by a wide margin over second-place Gyeongnam FC (65 points – current K League 2) with 86 final points (26 wins, 8 draws, 4 losses).
The gap between them and the Pohang Steelers (34 points) was 16 points. Park Yong-woo, who was suspended by the Korean Football Association for racist remarks, scored the winning header in the 14th minute of the second half.
Gwangju, unbeaten in six matches (four wins and two draws), suffered its first defeat since a 0-2 home loss to Daegu FC in the 13th round on May 13. The team rotated in the FA Cup quarterfinals against Jeonbuk to prepare for the upcoming match against Ulsan, but came up one goal short. Gwangju (28-26 on aggregate) dropped to seventh place on goal difference behind sixth-place Daejeon Hana Citizen (28-30 on aggregate).바카라사이트
It was a tight game for 96 minutes. Both Ulsan and Gwangju refused to back down and pressured their opponents with attacking soccer.
It was a single set piece in the second half that decided the game. In the 14th minute of the second half, Park Yong-woo rattled the net with a header off a cross from Lee Myung-jae in a corner kick situation. It was Park’s first goal in three years since he scored against FC Seoul on Aug. 15, 2020, when he was with Sangju Sangsang (now Gimcheon Sangsang).
Ulsan was awarded a penalty kick in the 25th minute when Lee Cheong-yong was fouled in the box by Asani. However, VAR overturned the call for a free kick outside the penalty box. Asani’s left-footed shot was saved by Ulsan’s Cho Hyun-woo.
Gwangju had one last chance in the six minutes of second-half stoppage time. However, Ulsan held on for a one-goal victory.