Gwangju FC, which broke out last year with a third-place finish in the K League 1, got off to a strong start in its home opener of the 2024 season. Gwangju defeated FC Seoul in a match in which Jesse Lingard, who played for Manchester United in the English Premier League, came off the bench.
Gwangju won 2-0 at home against Seoul in the first round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 at the Gwangju Football Stadium on Sunday.
Lee Hee-gyun opened the scoring in the 20th minute and 카지노사이트 Gabriel added a second in stoppage time.
Gwangju, who caused a sensation last season when they were promoted to the top flight and finished in third place, got off to a flying start this year with an opening day win. The match proved to be a hot ticket, with all 7,700 seats sold out within two and a half minutes of going on sale. A cloud of 7,805 spectators were in attendance.
On the other hand, Seoul head coach Kim Ki-dong suffered a defeat in his first match with his new team.
Contrary to expectations at the start of the match, Gwangju took the initiative and pushed Seoul back. Gwangju pressed hard and used concise passes to find space behind the Seoul defense.
Gwangju continued to press forward, and in the 20th minute, Lee Hee-gyun scored the game’s first goal. After receiving a pass from Lee Eun-hee, Lee rattled the net with a powerful right-footed shot from the front of the box. Goalkeeper Choi Chul-won got a hand to it, but it went straight into the net.
Seoul rallied back in the 31st minute of the second half and brought on Lingard for Kim Kyung-min to spur the offense. Lingard, who played for Man United in the EPL, took the field as a substitute in his K League debut. After coming on, Lingard fired a left-footed shot from the edge of the box that went just wide of the goal.
In the 36th minute, Lingard’s side cross was met by Ilyuchenko with a diving header that was denied by a super save from goalkeeper Kim Kyung-min.
Seoul continued to attack the opponent’s goal in the remaining time, but Gwangju’s defensive organization was solid. In the end, Gwangju sealed the match in stoppage time when Gabriel scored from a corner kick.
On the same day, Suwon FC won 1-0 away to Incheon United at the Incheon Football Stadium.
Lee Seung-woo scored the winning goal from the penalty spot in the 54th minute after the score was tied at 0-0.
Kim Eun-joong, who led the U20 national team to a fourth-place finish at the FIFA U20 World Cup last year, took over the reins at Suwon FC this year and tasted victory in his first game in charge.
Incheon took the early lead. Incheon, who had all of their players from last season on the field, dominated the game over Suwon FC, who had a number of new players.
Incheon dominated the midfield and controlled the game, while Suwon FC focused on counterattacks, but it was Suwon FC who took the lead in the final minutes.
In the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, Yoon Beom-garam was brought down by Ji Eon-hak and a penalty kick was awarded after video assistant referee (VAR) review. Lee Seung-woo stepped up to take the spot kick and slotted it into the bottom left corner to seal the win. It was Suwon FC’s first goal of the season.
The final whistle blew shortly after Lee’s successful penalty kick, giving Suwon FC a thrilling one-goal victory in a hostile environment.
In Chuncheon, Gangwon FC and Jeju United played to a 1-1 draw.
Gangwon took the lead in the first 32 seconds through Lee Sang-heon, but Jeju Italo equalized in the 43rd minute. Jeju head coach Kim Hak-beom will have to wait until next week for his first win with his new club.