K League this weekend was full of rivalries, aggressiveness, and respect.
Meanwhile, the national league of Vietnam’s V-League has resumed.
K League 1
The two biggest K League 1 matches that drew everyone’s attention were FC Seoul vs Jeonbuk Hyundai and Pohang Steelers vs Ulsan Hyundai. Seoul vs Jeonbuk has recently become one of the biggest rivalries in the nation, and Pohang and Ulsan’s matchup, which is also named as ‘East Coast Derby’, is the oldest derby match in the league and has always attracted fans. Both matches, however, were very one sided.
The two big matches were scheduled to play on Saturday, and Seoul and Jeonbuk’s tie up kicked off first. This match showed why Lee Dong-gook is the most respected player around, not only because of the brace he scored, but also due to his attitude towards social issues.
Lee took a knee for his goal celebration after scoring the team’s third in the 54th minute. It was in support of the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement and stand against racism. Lee said in the post-match interview that he was “also the victim of racism during his time in England and Germany”. His ‘thumbs-up’ celebration in the season opener to thank the frontline workers fighting against COVID-19 went viral, and now he’s setting another measure that youngsters should follow.
The match itself was dominated by Jeonbuk, even though their manager Jose Morais was not on the bench due to the red card he received last match. Adding up to Lee’s brace, Han Kyo-won and Lee Seung-ki named themselves on the scoresheet in the 43rd and 47th minutes respectively. Seoul only managed to get a goal in the 45th minute thanks to Park Chu-young’s long-range strike.
Later at Pohang, visitors Ulsan hammered the Steelers 4-0, which was totally unexpected. Former Bolton Wanderers winger Lee Chung-yong netted a brace in the 25th and 36th minutes. It was his first two goals in K League after returning from 11 long years of European journey. Kim In-sung scored the third in the 74th minute and the fourth was Junior Negrao’s, 10 minutes after Kim’s third. Junior, the K League’s player of the month in May, stayed at the top of the top scorer table, and has increased his gap from Lee Dong-gook to three goals.
On Sunday, a legendary goalkeeper Kim Young-kwnag made his 500th league appearance (combining K League 1 and 2) in Seongnam FC’s colors against Daegu FC. Kim is the fifth player to reach this milestone, following Kim Byung-ji (706), Lee Dong-gook (540), Choi Eun-sung (532), and Kim Gi-dong (501).
The game, however, didn’t proceed as Kim would’ve wanted. Seongnam opened the score-line with Yang Dong-hyun’s penalty in the 55th minute but Daegu came back with efforts from Edgar in the 65th minute and Jeong Tae-wook in the 71st. Daegu ended Seongnam’s four-game unbeaten run and clinched their first victory of the season.
While K League 1 was in action, teams in K League 2 and below played their KFA Cup second round matches. The most eye-catching match was Suwon FC vs. Hyochang FC. Hyochang are a Gwangju-based K5 League team that entered the FA Cup for the first time, and it’s their first encounter with a professional team. Hyochang players, who have their own jobs out of football, fought hard but Suwon had no mercy and hammered them 10-0.
Another K5 League team, Songwol FC, traveled to Jeju and faced Jeju United, a team in K League 2. Songwol players had to move in two flights since their schedules were varied. Songwol traveled back to Incheon, where the team is based, right after the match because they had to go to work the day after the match. The score line was 4-0 to Jeju but considering their level and the fact Songwol flew all the way down south, it was a somewhat respectable result for the K5 League club.
V-League
Meanwhile in Vietnam, the league has restarted its season - full of spectators and with some thrilling matches. Ha Noi FC beat Hoang Anh Gia Lai 3-0 and showed the world why they are the favorites to win the league. The first from Nguyen Van Quyet in the 24th minute and a brace from Rimario Gordon gave the ‘Doi bong Thu do ’ (the Capital Team) easy three points. Nam Dinh’s Rafaelson provided a wonderful and powerful rocket shot in the 19th minute but this couldn’t help his team being defeated against Viettel 2-1.
In other matches:
K League 1
Incheon United 1-2 Gangwon FC
Busan IPark 1-1 Sangju Sangmu
Suwon Samsung Bluewings 0-1 Gwangju FC
V League
Hai Phong 0-0 TP Ho Chi Minh FC
Saigon FC 0-0 Binh Duong
Quang Nam 2-1 FLC Thanh Hoa
Song Lam Nghe An 1-0 Da Nang
Quang Ninh 0-2 Hong Linh Ha Tinh
