Sports Briefs

FOOTBALL

Jeju United wins home opener 3-1 against Incheon

Jeju United FC won 3-1 in its opening match Sunday against Incheon United FC at Jeju stadium.

Jeju defender Lee Kwang-sun, who joined the club from Avispa Fukuoka during the winter, scored the opener for Jeju in the 32nd minute, flicking the ball off a pass with the back of his head.

Jeju maintained the advantage in the game until Incheon midfielder Park Se-jik scored an equalizer in the 63rd minute, driving the ball in off the block by Jeju goalie Kim Ho-jun.

The match was neck-and-neck for the next 15 minutes until Jeju scored its second goal in the 79th minute.

Jeju’s Jeong Woon exploited his chance at a free kick to net a brilliant goal straight off his left foot past Incheon’s right goal post. This was Jeong Woon’s debut goal for Jeju.

The team drove in the finisher in the 83rd minute off a trick play. Pretending to take a shot straight from free kick chance, Kwon Soon-hyung passed the ball to Song Jin-hyung in the right wing who found Gwon Han-jin inside the box. Gwon blasted the ball off Song’s penetrating pass to score the last goal of the match.

Jeju will play against Gwangju FC in an away match in Gwangju on Mar. 19.

Attacker Suk Hyun-jun assists win for FC Porto

South Korean attacker Suk Hyun-jun on Sunday assisted the win for FC Porto against Uniao da Madeira in the Portuguese League.

Suk didn’t step onto the field until the 74th minute, substituting for Ruben Neves, while Porto was tied with Uniao 2-2.

Porto began the match strong, with Vincent Aboubakar scoring for Porto off the cross by Maxi Pereira in the 24th minute. Hector Herrera added another goal 50 minutes into the game to give Porto some room to breathe. Herrera received the ball in the penalty box and shook a Uniao defender off with his dribble to net the ball in the upper right corner of the goal post.

However, things quickly fell apart when Uniao’s Danilo Dias, who came into the match in the 55th minute, scored two goals within 10 minutes in the 62nd and 68th minute of the game to equalize the match.

After Dias’ last goal in the 68th minute, Porto was unable to score the game winner until just three minutes remaining.

Corona penetrated rival defenders with a sharp pass to Suk, who swiftly drove the ball back to Corona for the winger to drive a non-stop shot with his left foot.

FC Porto is currently third in league standing with 18 wins, four draws and four losses.

By Choi Hyung-jo