Bluewings continue strong start

The second week of K-League action proved to be no different from the first when it came to exciting finishes, as the Suwon Samsung Bluewings continued its strong start to the season with a 2-1 comeback victory over Gwangju FC on Saturday and FC Seoul once again struggled in a 1-1 draw against Daejeon Citizen FC.

Gwangju got ahead of Suwon just 25 seconds into the Bluewings’ home opener when Kim Dong-sub connected with a cross from the left side in what was the fastest goal of the 2011 season so far. Gwangju continued to apply pressure on Suwon throughout the first half, limiting the Bluewings’ chances, but Suwon finally saw a breakthrough in the second half thanks to Croatian defender Neretljak Mato.

Mato, who is known for his strong defense and dominating height, equalized for Suwon 30 minutes into the second half when he curled a left-footed free kick into the right side of Gwangju’s goal, leaving goalkeeper Park Ho-jin dumbfounded. Mato then scored his second goal of the game when a penalty kick was awarded to Suwon for a handball.

“We really needed the three points today,” Mato said Saturday on the Bluewings Web site. “This was an important win.”

Suwon’s victory Saturday comes after a solid 2-0 victory over FC Seoul last week, proving that the Bluewings should be strong contenders for the title this year.

Meanwhile, defending champions FC Seoul failed to get their first win of the season in a tightly contested match against Daejeon, which got on the board first with a 13th-minute goal by Brazilian forward Quirino da Silva Wagner, his third of the season. Seoul got a gift of an equalizer in the 37th minute when Daejeon’s Hwang Jae-hun headed in an own goal but ultimately couldn’t work together to overcome a surprisingly stifling Daejeon defense.

In other games Saturday, Incheon and Jeju tied, 0-0, and Jeonbuk beat Seongnam, 1-0. Two games ended 1-0 Sunday with Daegu FC edging Gangwon FC and the Pohang Steelers eked out a win on a 78th minute goal by Derek Asamoah. Also on Sunday, Busan and Sangju Sangmu engaged in a high-scoring 3-3 draw and Gyeongnam beat Ulsan, 1-0.

By Jung Seung-hyun [seungjung@joongang.co.kr]