FC Seoul extends lead to 7 points as Motors lose

The second-place Jeonbuk Motors suffered a setback in their title chase with a 3-0 defeat at the hand of the visiting Pohang Steelers in the fifth match of the K-League split stage on Sunday. FC Seoul extended its lead atop the table to seven points thanks to a 1-0 home victory over Gyeongnam FC.

Kim Dae-ho scored twice for Pohang and Park Sung-ho added one, snapping the Motors’ undefeated streak at five games. Pohang also snapped its three-game losing streak at Jeonju World Cup Stadium.

With the win, Pohang has 56 points, one shy of the fourth-place Ulsan Tigers. The Tigers, who beat Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia last Wednesday to advance to the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League, were scheduled to play Jeju United in a sole K-League match last night.

At 69 points, Jeonbuk is seven points apart both from FC Seoul and the third-place Suwon Bluewings, who gained three more points with a 1-0 victory over Busan I’Park on Saturday, following a 1-0 win over FC Seoul last Wednesday.

Seoul entered Sunday’s match with five straight wins over Gyeongnam at Seoul World Cup Stadium, and Park Hee-do extended it to the six after he connected with a Mauricio Alejandro Molina Uribe cross with a diving header in the 30th minute for the go-ahead score.

With the assist, his 16th of the season, the Colombian midfielder, called Molina in Korea, tied the league record for the most assists in a season, set by Bosnian Serb Rade Bogdanovic of the Steelers in 1996.

The loss dampened the celebratory mood of Gyeongnam goalie Kim Byung-ji, who started his 600th career match, a league record. Kim, 42, formerly the starting national team goalkeeper, launched his K-League career in 1992.

The K-League enters a two-week break from today, with only one game scheduled during that time. Ulsan will meet Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor in the first leg of the AFC CL semifinal in Uzbekistan on Oct. 24, but will first have an early match with Pohang next Monday.

Jeonbuk will also play Ulsan on Oct. 21 before meeting Seoul on Oct. 27.

By Moon Gwang-lip [joe@joongang.co.kr]