Mauricio Molina kept alive Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma’s hopes of breaking into the top two and securing a spot in the championship playoff semi-finals as his late goal helped his club round off a comeback against a spirited Gangwon FC side in Chuncheon on Sunday.
Kim Young-hu’s eleventh goal of the season had given the home side the lead, but Seongnam levelled the match through Hong Chul five minutes after the break and then Colombian forward Molina pounced in the 81st minute to give the visitors a 2-1 win and move Seongnam onto 41 points, six behind leaders Jeju United.
Jeju were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Pohang Steelers, and United had to come from a goal down after Joao Soares da Mota Neto had given Pohang the lead. Park Hyung-bum’s third of the campaign in the 67th minute squared the match and ensured a share of the spoils. Second placed FC Seoul also had to come from behind in their 1-1 draw away to Chunnam Dragons, as Adriano Neves Pereira’s first half opener was cancelled out by Dejan Damjanovic’s eleventh league goal of 2010.
Yoon Bit-garam’s 20th minute free-kick was enough to give Gyeongnam victory at home to Daegu, whilst Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i edged closer to securing their top six position with a 2-0 win away to Busan I’Park. Yoo Kyung-ryul and Carmelo Enrique Valencia were on target for Kim Ho-gon’s side as they marched to their third consecutive victory.
Incheon United celebrated their second consecutive victory under Huh Jung-moo as they edged out Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in a five goal thriller. Kim Min-hak had given visitors Jeonbuk the lead but a double from Yoo Byung-soo, the young striker’s sixteenth and seventeenth goals of the league season, and then Kim Young-bin’s first of the campaign put Incheon 3-1 ahead. Jeonbuk were awarded their second penalty of the game six minutes from time and Kim Hyung-bum converted to make it 3-2, but Incheon held out to claim the points.
There were two penalties in Gwangju as Suwon Samsung Bluewings went ahead in the 42nd minute through Naohiro Takahara’s spot-kick effort, but Choi Sung-guk put past Ha Kang-jin from the spot ten minutes from time to complete a result that all but ends Suwon’s faint hopes of a championship playoff place.
K-League Results (Saturday September 25th and Sunday September 26th, 2010)
Busan 0-2 Ulsan
Chunnam 1-1 FC Seoul
Gyeongnam 1-0 Daegu
Gangwon 1-2 Seongnam
Gwangju 1-1 Suwon
Incheon 3-2 Jeonbuk
Jeju 1-1 Pohang
