Jeonbuk continue to improve as Ulsan start to stumble

Football

Published: 04 Jul. 2022, 16:49

Jeonbuk continue to improve as Ulsan start to stumble

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motor celebrate their 2-1 victory over Gimcheon Sangmu in a post on the club's Instragram page on Saturday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Five-time defending champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors continue to push their way up the K League standings as top club Ulsan Hyundai's form starts to wobble.

While Jeonbuk was able to take a 2-1 victory over Gimcheon Sangmu at Gimcheon Stadium in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang on Saturday, Ulsan took a blow, losing 2-0 to the Pohang Steelers at Pohang Steel Yard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang.

Last week, Ulsan's form started to stumble after four months of sitting pretty at the top of the standings. Ulsan has not been able to win for the last two games, after being held to a draw against bottom club Seongnam on June 26.

Ulsan's problem for the second week in a row seemed to be converting. Ulsan held most of the ball, at 67 percent, had five shots and one on target while Pohang had six shots, three on target.

Despite controlling most of the ball, Ulsan could not keep Kim Seung-dae of Pohang from scoring two goals in the 15th and 53rd minutes.

Ulsan still holds a five-point lead over runner-up Jeonbuk.

However, the defending champions seem to be gaining momentum after beating the top team on June 19.

Last week, Jeonbuk defeated the Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2-1 to take second place in the standings, only the second time this season that the North Jeolla club has found themselves in the runner-up position.

This week, they strengthened their second-place position with a 2-1 win over Gimcheon. It was Takahiro Kunimoto and Gustavo who scored for Jeonbuk, while Yeon Je-woon scored Gimcheon's sole goal.

Gimcheon had more shots than Jeonbuk, recording 17, eight more than Jeonbuk. But Jeonbuk played the more efficient game, as six of Jeonbuk's eight shots were on target and two made it past the net.

Jeonbuk is the most successful club in the history of the K League, having won their fifth consecutive trophy last season, becoming the first team ever in Korea's two most popular leagues — the K League and KBO — to win a title for five straight years.

The K League continues Tuesday as Seongnam face Pohang, Gimcheon face Jeju United and Ulsan face Gangwon.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]