Ulsan Hyundai extend lead with 2-1 win over Gimcheon Sangmu

Football

Published: 22 Aug. 2022, 14:55 Updated: 22 Aug. 2022, 15:07

Ulsan Hyundai extend lead with 2-1 win over Gimcheon Sangmu

Martin Adam of Ulsan Hyundai, center, heads in the ball during a match against Gimcheon Sangmu at Gimcheon Sports Complex in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Top club Ulsan Hyundai came from behind to beat Gimcheon Sangmu 2-1 on Sunday, becoming the first club in the K League to reach 600 wins.

On Sunday at Gimcheon Sports Complex, Gimcheon's Kim Jun-bum opened the scoring in the 35th minute.

But excited home fans didn't have long to celebrate before Kim Tae-hwan of Ulsan sent over a cross from the right and Hungarian forward Martin Adam heading in the equalizer just moments before the whistle blew for half time.

Three minutes into the second half, Adam was at it once again, this time with Lee Chung-yong sending over a cross from the left.

Hungarian footballer Martin Adam of Ulsan Hyundai, fourth from left, celebrates after scoring in a match against Gimcheon Sangmu at Gimcheon Sports Complex in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Adam joined Ulsan only this July, marking his first career move abroad after a decade playing professional football in Hungary.

"It's important that we won the match," said Adam on Sunday. "It's important that I have scored two goals, but what's more important is that the team won."

Sunday's goals are Adam's second and third in the K League, after he scored his first goal on Aug. 13 when he opened the scoring against Daegu FC in what would turn out to be a 4-0 Ulsan victory.

"In the case of Ulsan, the midfielders make a lot of chances in the match," said Adam. "Today, the midfielders made many chances and as a striker I could score. Winning the match is important."

Ulsan is now on a winning streak of eight matches, pulling a comfortable nine points ahead of runner-up and defending champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Ulsan has 11 matches left to play this season.

The fight for third place is fierce, as No. 3 Pohang were held to a 1-1 draw by No. 4 Incheon on Saturday. Incheon opened the scoring in the 29th minute and Pohang scored the equalizer in the 68th. Despite controlling 66 percent of the ball, the Steelers were unable to break the tie. Pohang is now three points ahead of Incheon.

At the bottom half of the table, the Suwon Samsung Bluewings beat No. 5 Jeju United 2-1 to step up to ninth place while Seongnam stays in the relegation spot after a one-sided 2-0 loss to FC Seoul. Seongnam sits at the bottom of the standings with 18 points, eight points behind second-to-last club Gimcheon.

The K League continues on Saturday and Sunday with Jeonbuk and Daegu coming back from Japan after competing in the AFC Champions League.

On Aug. 14, Jeonbuk beat Daegu 2-1 in the round of 16, scoring the winning goal in injury time after staying tied 1-1 for 120 minutes and advancing to the quarterfinals.

As of press time, Jeonbuk is scheduled to play the AFC Champions League quarterfinals against Japanese club Vissel Kobe on Monday.

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