K-League 16th match day: Jeju regain K-League top spot

Jeju United returned to the top of the table on Saturday night as they thumped Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix by a convincing 4-0 scoreline. Oh Seung-bum notched up his first goal of the season fourteen minutes in, and then goals from Brazilians Danilo Montecino Neco and Natanael de Souza Santos stretched the home side’s advantage. Jeju’s top scorer Kim Eun-joong added the fourth three minutes after the break to round off the scoring.

Joining them at the top of the table and level on goal difference are Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Gyeongnam FC who both recorded solid victories at the weekend. Enio Oliveira Junior was on target in the 57th minute as Jeonbuk defeated former table-toppers FC Seoul in front of 30,876 home fans, and the misery was compounded for the visitors when Uzbek star Sever Djeparov received his marching orders at the death. At the Busan Asiad stadium, Lee Yong-rae fired in a 19th minute free kick to put Gyeongnam ahead against Busan I’Park but Jung Sung-hoon levelled the match nine minutes after the break. Gyeongnam’s winner came from new national team call-up Yoon Bit-garam, who pounced on a through ball from Lucio Tefilo da Silva to smash the ball past Jeon Sang-wook and wrap up the points in caretaker manager Kim Kwi-hwa’s first match in charge since Cho Kwang-rae took full control of the Korean national team.

Yoo Byung-soo scored his 12th goal of the season for Incheon United at home to Suwon Samsung Bluewings but that 70th minute penalty came when his side were trailing 3-1 and the visitors held out for the remaining twenty minutes to inflict Incheon’s third consecutive 2-3 defeat. Ahn Jae-joon put through his own net in the 37th minute to put Suwon ahead, and then Baek Ji-hoon celebrated his call-up to the national team squad with a goal to double the advantage four minutes before the break. Jung Hyuk gave Incheon hope seven minutes after half-time but Lee Hyun-jin pounced just after the hour to make it 3-1. Yoo went down in the box under pressure from Li Weifeng and the youngster picked himself up and slotted home to extend his lead at the top of the K-League scoring charts, but the three points went to a Suwon side that has now lost only once in the last six league matches.

Summer signing Ko Chang-hyun put Ulsan ahead at the Chuncheon stadium against Gangwon, but Choi Soon-ho’s men turned things around early in the second half through goals from Baze Iljoski and Kim Yong-hu to give them hope of a first league win since April. Those hopes were dashed six minutes from time though as Paraguayan striker Jose Maria Ortigoza Ortiz snatched a point for playoff hopefuls Ulsan.

Daegu were brought back down to earth with a bump after their morale-boosting victory over Seongnam last week as Daejeon Citizen returned from the Daegu stadium with the full three points. Despite having Lee Kyung-hwan sent off early on, goals from Kwak Chang-hee, Uh Kyung-joon and Han Jae-woong gave Daejeon a comfortable lead before Ahn Sung-min grabbed a late consolation for the home side deep into second half stoppage time.

K-League Results (Saturday August 7th & Sunday August 8th, 2010)
Jeju 4-0 Gwangju
Daegu 1-3 Daejeon
Gangwon 2-2 Ulsan
Incheon 2-3 Suwon
Jeonbuk 1-0 FC Seoul
Pohang 2-0 Seongnam
Busan 1-2 Gyeongnam