It Will Be Decided in The Last Game of The K-League Relegation War

The prestigious Suwon Samsung Bluewings have 24 trophies, the most among Korean professional soccer clubs, including four K-League trophies, five FA Cups, and six League Cups. We haven’t had a good day this season. 스포츠토토 Coach Lee Byung-geun, who was the head coach at the time of the opening, was replaced after two draws and five losses in the first seven games. Coach Kim Byung-soo then took the helm, but he won four games, five draws and 11 losses in 20 games. I was notified of my dismissal in four months. The next firefighter acting coach was Yeom Ki-hoon, a team legend who played three games as a playing coach this season. Still, there was no sign of recovery.

Suwon Samsung fell to the bottom 12th of the 30th round in September, automatically demoted to the second division next season. Even after taking over as acting head coach Yeom, he had one win, one draw, and two losses. The humiliation of being demoted for the first time since its foundation was on the horizon. There are only three games left. The ranking was 10th Suwon FC 32 points, 11th Gangwon 27 points, and 12th Suwon Samsung 26 points. In the meantime, round 36 on the 12th. Suwon Samsung overcame the crisis of one being sent off in the match against its rival Suwon FC and produced a miraculous 3-2 reversal. Gangwon also won, narrowing the gap between Suwon FC 32 points, Gangwon 30 points, and Suwon Samsung 29 points.

The 37th round took place on the 25th. Suwon Samsung’s opponent was rival Seoul. A hot battlefield leading to a ‘super match’. On this day, 36,007 spectators gathered at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Home team Seoul surpassed 400,000 spectators in a single season home game for the first time since the 2018 season, when the K League officially counted only paid spectators. An average of 22,633 people. It is the highest record in a Korean professional sports season, surpassing 21,901 Lotte Giants in professional baseball in 2008.

Suwon Samsung’s fighting spirit to catch the brinkmanship rose amid cheers from some 8,000 Suwon fans who filled the first floor of the away cheering section. Suwon Samsung is performing the worst this season, but its fans have not cooled down. Thousands of fans also joined the away game with the largest home average audience (11,069) since the 2015 season.

The tight flow was broken in the 18th minute of the second half when Suwon midfielder Vasani (26, Brazil) hit a left-footed mid-range shot from the front of the penalty arc cut through the net. Basani scored the first goal in seven months since the match against Jeju in April. Seoul, which had been fighting back, lost its power in the 43rd minute of the second half when captain Osmar (35, Spain) was sent off for a rough tackle. At the end of the game, Seoul’s Ki Sung-yueng (34) pushed Suwon Samsung’s Jeon Jin-woo (24), causing a physical fight between the players. Suwon Samsung won for the first time in three consecutive Super Matches this season. On this day, Gangwon FC jumped to 10th place by beating Suwon FC 2-0. Gangwon Lee Jung-hyeop (32) scored the first goal when he heard that his father-in-law had passed away. He made a memorial gesture with his hands raised to the sky. The rankings were reorganized into 10th place Gangwon (33 points, 30 points), 11th place Suwon FC (32 points, 43 points), and 12th place Suwon Samsung (32 points, 35 points).

Now, the fate will be decided in the last 38 rounds at 2 p.m. on the 2nd of next month. Gangwon and Suwon Samsung will play a single-legged match, while Suwon FC, which went down to 11th, will face Jeju (40 points) in ninth place. The 12th place will be automatically demoted, the 11th place will be Busan I’Park, the 2nd place in the 2nd division, and the 10th place will be played against the playoff winners from the 3rd to 5th places in the 2nd division, respectively, to determine the 2 main teams of the 1st stage.

In the K League 2, which ended on the 26th, the winning team changed in extra time in the second half of the last day. Before the start of the game, Busan had 69 points, one point ahead of Gimcheon Sangmu (68 points). Busan faced Cheongju FC in North Chungcheong Province, and Gimcheon faced Seoul E-Land. Gimcheon finished the season first with 71 points, winning 1-0 against E-Land with Kim Hyun-wook’s (28) winning goal. In the game that started at the same time, Busan was leading 1-0 with the first goal of Pesin (24, Brazil) in the 23rd minute of the second half. If it ends like this, Busan wins. At that moment, Chungcheongbuk-do Cheongju striker Jorge (24, Brazil) cut the net with a picturesque bicycle kick in the second half of the extra time. a one-on-one draw. Gimcheon beat Busan (70 points) to the top. Gimcheon, which came down to K League 2 in the 2022 season, will return to the first division after one season. Gimcheon, where head coach Jeong Jung-yong (54) has been at the helm since May, recorded six wins and one draw at the end of the season, winning a dramatic upset. Busan was in the lead for two months and collapsed in vain on the last day.

On the same day, Gyeongnam FC beat Gimpo FC 1-0 to rank third (60 points) and Gyeongnam fourth (57 points, 54 points). Bucheon FC, which beat Jeonnam by 4 to 1, ranked 5th (57 points, 45 points). Fourth-ranked Gyeongnam and fifth-ranked Bucheon will hold a semi-playoff on the 29th, and the winner will play third-ranked Gimpo. Here, the winning team will be ranked 10th in the K League and have a playoff.