Mindings and Musings From the Weekend: Three Takeaways

Ulsan Hyundai continue to be the runaway leaders in K League 1 following yet another impressive display against Gangwon FC over the weekend, while the rest of the top six is separated by just four points following the latest round of action.  Gwangju FC and Bucheon FC 1995 still lead the pack in the second division, but there was an eye-opening result on Monday night that turned quite a few heads.  KLU's Branko Belan picks out the top bits from May's opening weekend.

Ulsan Maintain Their Dominance

Ulsan Hyundai put their best foot forward in a 3-1 victory over Gangwon FC on the weekend, with Leonardo bagging a brace after Kim Dae-won had opened the scoring for the hosts after just eighteen minutes.  Eom Won-sang continued his fine form of late, also putting his name on the scoresheet as all of the Horangi's goals were scored in the first half.  The win puts them seven points clear at the top of the division for the moment.  Their eighteen goals thus far lead the league, as do their seven goals conceded through the first eleven rounds.

Things will get more challenging for them in the coming weeks with dates against Incheon United and Jeju United, but both matches will be played at home, which should give them a decided advantage.  They round out the month with away dates against Gimcheon Sangmu and Suwon FC, so the opportunity to increase the gap at the top is certainly there.  They'll want to get as many points as possible as there will be a three week pause following Round Fifteen before action resumes in mid-June.

Pivotal May for Top Six

Joo Min-kyu netted his first hat-trick of the season in Jeju's win over Gimcheon on Sunday night.

The rest of the top six teams are separated by just four points.  Several head-to-head battles will be key in the coming weeks in trying to decipher who will sit where, when the league goes into another break at the end of the month.  Jeju United looked particularly impressive last time out with a 3-1 win over Gimcheon Sangmu, with Joo Min-kyu scoring his first hat-trick of the season.  Kim Dong-jun will feel a spate of lament for not picking up the clean sheet, as the islanders conceded late in second half injury time.

Pohang, currently in second, has critical ties coming up against Incheon United and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, who are now unbeaten in their last six matches, dating back to mid-March after a slow start to the campaign.  While still much too early to tell, what the table looks like at the end of the month may not be too far off from what it could look like at the end of the season, so those in contention at the moment will want to make a statement in the best way possible.

Gwangju, Bucheon Continue to Lead the Way

Gwangju FC maintained their edge at the summit of K League 2 with a victory over Seoul E-Land.

The top two sides in the second division, Gwangju FC and Bucheon FC 1995, respectively, continue to distance themselves from the rest of the pack as results remain positive.  The Yellows picked up a marginal 1-0 victory over Seoul E-Land on the weekend, while Bucheon defeated ten-man Jeonnam Dragons 2-1.

In other action, the match between Daejeon Hana Citizen and Gimpo FC on Monday night turned out to be the match of the season thus far in either division as the sides split eight goals evenly in a 4-4 draw.  Yoon Min-ho and Lee Kang-yeon scored first half goals for Gimpo while Kim Seung-sub and Cho Yu-min responded for Daejeon.  The visitors were in front by two goals on 67 minutes after Yoon scored his second of the match, and it seemed as though the away side would take all three points from the match.

Not to be outdone, however, the Purples stormed back with a pair of goals in the later stages of the match, as Masatoshi Ishida cut the deficit to one from the penalty spot with ten minutes remaining, with Kim In-gyun salvaging a point for his club with the equalizer in the third minute of second half stoppage time.  Daejeon currently has a match in hand on the top two, meaning they can pull to within four points when they face Gyeongnam away this coming weekend.  They then take on Busan IPark before facing Bucheon, so results in the coming weeks will be important not only for them to remain in touch for top spot but also to fend off the chasing pack below them.