Jeonbuk stays hot, runs past Gangwon

The Jeonbuk Motors exploded for three goals in seven minutes in the second half, as they routed Gangwon FC, 4-1, in a K-League Classic match in Jeonju on Sunday, extending their undefeated run to five matches. The Motors are in third place, two points clear of FC Seoul. Gangwon is in 13th place.

Choi Jin-ho put Gangwon on the scoreboard first in the 19th minute but Kevin Oris leveled it two minutes later. Jung In-hwan, Song Je-heon and Lee Seung-gi scored for Jeonbuk in the 81st, 83rd, and 88th minutes, respectively, giving coach Choi Kang-hee his fifth victory since he returned from the helm of the national team in June.

The game, however, fell short of satisfying the coach, who led the club to win the title in 2011 and finish second last year.

“Overall, there are still some areas in which we lack,” Choi said. “We need to play a game with a good content, not just with a good result. As the team is finding stability, I expect the team will improve going forward.”

Elsewhere on Sunday, the Seongnam Chunma surrendered a two-goal lead to the Daejeon Citizen in a 2-2 draw at home, as it extended a winless stretch to five.

Kim Dong-sub, who made an impressive, but not effective national team debut at the East Asian Cup, gave Seongnam a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute, his second goal after Korea finished third in the four-nation tourney.

Lee Jong-won doubled the lead for Seongnam in the 51st minute, before Cesar Arias reduced the deficit in the 54th and Yoon Won-il scored the equalizer in the 70th. Despite the late rally, Daejeon failed to snap its long-running winless streak. Daejeon lost 10 recent games and drew seven others, as it stayed in the cellar in the 14-strong league. Seongnam is in ninth place.

There are only five rounds left before the league splits the winners’ group of seven and the losers’ group of seven for the second half of the season.

BY MOON GWANG-LIP [joe@joongang.co.kr]