Home > Sports > Football

FC Anyang stuns reigning champions Ulsan HD with 1-0 win in K League 1 debut

Published: 17 Feb. 2025, 10:59 Updated: 17 Feb. 2025, 17:26

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

FC Anyang forward Bruno Mota, second from right, vies for the ball during the K League 1 match against Ulsan HD at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Feb. 16. [K LEAGUE]

Newly promoted K League 1 team FC Anyang shocked reigning champions Ulsan HD on Sunday with a 1-0 victory in the Gyeonggi club’s first-ever K League 1 appearance.

Bruno Mota headed in Anyang’s first goal in the K League 1 — and what turned out to be the winner — in second-half stoppage time at Ulsan’s home ground, sealing three points in their opening fixture of the 2025 K League 1 season, which kicked off on Saturday.

K League 1 defending champions Ulsan failed to score despite their dominant stats throughout the match, during which they had 66 percent possession, 15 shots and eight on target compared to Anyang’s seven shots and five on target.

Sunday’s loss comes as Ulsan seeks to clinch a historic fourth straight K League 1 title. Winning this season’s league championship would extend their dominance that began in 2022, followed by their second consecutive title in 2023 and a third in 2024, both for the first time in their history.

For Anyang, the 2025 season presents the challenge of whether the newly promoted team can survive in K League 1 against title favorites and more experienced teams.

The Gyeonggi club must finish in the top nine of the 12-team table to avoid the risk of returning to the second division, as the top nine clubs secure their spots in the top tier next season. Meanwhile, the 10th- and 11th-placed teams enter promotion-relegation playoffs against two K League 2 clubs to determine who will play in K League 1.

The last-placed K League 1 team faces automatic relegation to the second tier.

Anyang will return to action against FC Seoul on Saturday at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul, while Ulsan will host Shandong Taishan in their final match of the AFC Champions League Elite league phase on Wednesday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]