Incheon United, Ulsan Hyundai stay alive in AFC Champions League with key wins

It was a night of redemption for Incheon United and Ulsan Hyundai in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday, with both K League sides grabbing a win in the group stage to keep their hopes of reaching the knockouts alive.

Incheon United's Hernandes Rodrigues, center, dribbles the ball during an AFC Champions League match against the Yokohama F. Marinos at Incheon Football Stadium in Incheon on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

It was a night of redemption for Incheon United and Ulsan Hyundai in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday, with both K League sides grabbing a win in the group stage to keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stage alive.

A win was crucial for Incheon, as the team was sitting in third place on the four-team table after suffering two straight losses to Shandong Taishan in Group G. Another loss would have knocked Incheon out of the group stage with one game left to play.

Incheon's 2-1 victory over the Yokohama F. Marinos at Incheon Football Stadium in Incheon allowed the home team to jump from third to second after the Tuesday match. The two sides are now tied on points, with nine each, but Incheon edge out the Marinos in head-to-head matches — the second deciding factor when teams are tied on points.

It was also Incheon’s second-consecutive win against the Marinos, after beating them 4-2 in a group stage game on Sept. 19.

Incheon had multiple key players like Stefan Mugosa and Harrison Delbridge missing due to injury in Tuesday’s fixture, but the team secured an important three points by capitalizing on a few critical chances.

Both teams seemed shaky on defense in the beginning of the match, but Incheon exploited the Marinos’ vulnerability first with Hong Si-hoo smashing in a shot in the 11th minute.

That goal was Hong's second goal in a row after he scored one against 2023 K League winners Ulsan Hyundai on Friday.

The Marinos had more possession and created solid chances in the remainder of the first half, but none of their efforts found the back of the net.

Incheon then extended their lead to make it 2-0 as Hernandes Rodrigues slotted in the ball in the 67th minute.

The Marinos put one back with Elber’s header in the 83rd minute but failed to break through Incheon’s defense once more before the final whistle, ending the game 2-1.

With a crucial win, Incheon may secure a place in the round of 16 in their first-ever Champions League campaign.

In the Champions League, 10 group winners and three best runners-up from each region — East Asia and West Asia — reach the round of 16.

Over at Pathum Thani Stadium in Thailand, Ulsan secured a 3-1 win against BG Pathum United and remained in second place in Group I, bouncing back from a 2-1 loss to Johor Darul Ta'zim earlier this month.

Ulsan Hyundai's Gustav Ludwigson, right, in action during an AFC Champions League match against BG Pathum United at Pathum Thani Stadium in Thailand in a photo shared on Ulsan's official Facebook account on Tuesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The K League champions also needed three points to maintain their shot at reaching the knockout stage as one of three best runners-up. A win seemed promising even in the first half with Ulsan ending the half at 2-0 thanks to an own goal by Jakkapan Praisuwan in the 20th minute and Gustav Ludwigson’s goal in the 27th minute.

Ulsan continued to dominate and made it 3-0 in the 62nd minute with Lee Myung-jae’s goal. The team conceded one goal to Igor Sergeev in the 69th minute, but that was all Pathum United could manage.

Despite the 3-1 win and one more group stage game left to play, Ulsan cannot snatch the frontrunner position in Group I from Kawasaki Frontale as the Japanese side are six points clear at the top of the table at 15.

Ulsan and Incheon are two of the best runners-up as of press time Wednesday. Both will need to ride their momentum through the last group stage match in order to be in with a chance of reaching the knockout stage.

Alongside the two, the Pohang Steelers and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors compete in this year’s Champions League.

The Steelers locked in a spot in the knockout stage on Nov. 8 while Jeonbuk sit in second place in Group F as of press time.

The Pohang side was due to play Hanoi FC at Pohang Steelyard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang later in the evening on Wednesday, and Jeonbuk was set to face Kitchee SC in Hong Kong on the same day.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]