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Daegu safe in K League 1 with 3-1 playoff victory over Chungnam Asan

Published: 01 Dec. 2024, 17:09 Updated: 01 Dec. 2024, 18:16

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Daegu FC's Lee Chan-dong celebrates scoring during a K League promotion-relegation playoff against Chungnam Asan FC at DGB Daegu Bank Park in Daegu on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Daegu FC won the second leg of the K League promotion-relegation playoffs against Chungnam Asan FC 3-1 on Sunday, winning the series 6-5 on aggregate and securing a berth in the K League 1 next season.

Daegu needed to bounce back at home to keep their hopes alive after a 4-3 loss in the first leg on Nov. 28.

After multiple chances on both ends of the pitch, the opening goal came in the first half of stoppage time when Cesinha tucked in the ball after defender Choe Hee-won failed to clear it from the penalty box.

Edgar Silva added one more for Daegu, taking a backheel touch on a midrange shot from Lee Yong-rae and slotting it in the 83rd minute.

But Silva went from hero to zero in stoppage time, giving away a penalty for a handball, which Juninho Rocha converted to force the extra time.

Daegu had an advantage in the extra time as Asan went one man down after Josepablo Monreal received a red card at the end of the second half for a heavy challenge on Kyohei Yoshino.

Daegu went ahead again in the extra time, with Lee Chan-dong firing a volley in the 93rd minute and scoring his first goal for Daegu in style.

Daegu FC elebrate during a K League promotion-relegation playoff against Chungnam Asan FC at DGB Daegu Bank Park in Daegu on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The K League 1 side played defensively in the final 15 minutes, marking Asan players at the same time and hindering their build-ups, which protected Daegu’s hard-restored lead through the end and maintain their place in the top tier next season.

Sunday’s playoff saved Daegu from relegation, which they have not faced since 2013. The club’s run throughout this season endangered their place in the top flight, with the team reaching as high as No. 8 in the 12-team table and finishing in 11th place after staying in the bottom three for the majority of the campaign.

In the K League 1, the last-place team faces direct relegation to the second division, while the 10th and 11th-placed teams enter the promotion-relegation playoffs against two K League 2 clubs to decide which teams secure berths in the top tier next season.

For Asan, it still marked their best run in the club’s history despite failing to earn promotion to the top tier for the first time. The Chungnam club managed a runner-up finish in the 2024 K League 2 season, surpassing their previous best finish in the second division at sixth place in 2022.

Competition for promotion in the K League 2 next season could prove to be fierce again, with relegated Incheon United joining the second division possibly with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, the K League 1’s winningest team that are set to play the promotion-relegation playoffs against Seoul E-Land on Sunday and Dec. 8.

The K League 2 could see an additional competitor on top of the K League 1 sides, as K3 team Hwaseong FC will play in the second division if the K League approves the club’s bid to join the league in a plenary session in January next year.

Over in the K League 1, K League 2 winners FC Anyang will compete in the 2025 season for the first time.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]