Pohang and Gimcheon keep spots atop K League table after goalless draw

It was the first time either the Steelers or Gimcheon had recorded a goalless draw in the 2024 season.

The Pohang Steelers' Wanderson, center, in action during a K League 1 match against Gimcheon Sangmu at Pohang Steelyard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang on Saturday. [YONHAP]

The K League 1 leaders Pohang Steelers and second-place Gimcheon Sangmu retained their positions on the table over the weekend after a goalless draw in their head-to-head clash Saturday, with third-place Ulsan HD having played one game fewer.

It was the first time either the Steelers or Gimcheon had recorded a goalless draw in the 2024 season. The Pohang side extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with the draw at Pohang Steelyard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang.

Just one point separates the two sides on the table — the Steelers with 17 and Gimcheon with 16.

Defending champions Ulsan sit below Gimcheon with 14 points, but they did not play a league fixture last week as the match against Gwangju FC on April 20 was rescheduled to May 15 due to the ongoing AFC Champions League schedule.

Ulsan played the first leg of the Champions League semifinals against Yokohama F. Marinos at home on April 17 and won it 1-0 ahead of the second leg on Wednesday.

Over at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Saturday, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors beat FC Seoul 3-2, securing their second straight league victory for the first time this season.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players, in green, celebrate during a K League 1 match against FC Seoul at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Saturday. [NEWS1]

The match saw fierce attacks from both sides, with the score tied at 2-2 before halftime.

Jeonbuk’s Song Min-kyu opened the scoring in the sixth minute, and FC Seoul's Stanislav Iljutcenko equalized in the 10th. The capital side turned things around with a goal by Aleksandar Palocevic in the 30th minute, but Lee Yeong-jae made it 2-2 in the 38th minute and Jeon Byung-kwan scored the winner in the 49th minute, sealing the 3-2 win for Jeonbuk.

The second successive league win comes under interim manager Park Won-jae, who has led the team since then-manager Dan Petrescu resigned on April 6 after Jeonbuk hit the bottom of the table with zero wins.

Jeonbuk now sit in eighth place on the 12-team table with two wins, three draws and three losses as of Monday.

Suwon FC also secured a second straight league win after beating Jeju United 2-1 at home on Saturday thanks to a stoppage-time winner by Lee Seung-woo.

The victory comes after Suwon made an early exit from the Korea Cup — the newly-renamed Korean FA Cup — with a 1-0 loss to K League 2 side Seongnam FC in the third round of the tournament on April 17.

Four other teams were in league action on Sunday.

Gangwon FC's Lee Sang-heon — the K League's top scorer with seven goals in eight fixtures so far — did not get his name on the scoresheet at home against Incheon United, but fellow striker Yago Cariello was there to score a hat-trick, adding on a goal by Kim Yi-seok for a 4-1 win.

Gangwon FC forward Yago Cariello, center, celebrates scoring a goal during a K League 1 match against Incheon United at Chuncheon Songam Sports Town in Chuncheon, Gangwon on Sunday. [GANGWON FC]

Gangwon jumped one spot higher to sit in fourth place with Sunday’s victory.

Their solid run this season is a stark contrast to their performance last year during which they struggled and barely avoided relegation to the second division.

The improved attack this season is a key behind the success, having scored the second-most number of goals — 15 in eight games. Gangwon was the least prolific team last season with 30 goals in 38 matches.

Elsewhere, Daegu FC recorded a goalless draw with Daejeon Hana Citizen in Daegu. Daejeon remained at the bottom of the table while Daegu jumped to 10th place.

Gwangju, who sit in 11th place with six points, are one point behind Daegu but have played one game fewer due to Ulsan’s Champions League schedule.

The K League will continue this week with FC Seoul traveling south to face last-place Daejeon on Saturday. Gwangju will take on Suwon at home as Gimcheon play Gangwon in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang at the same time.

Jeonbuk will then face Daegu at home the following day, and the Steelers will play Incheon in Pohang, North Gyeongsang.

The clash between reigning champions Ulsan and Jeju in Ulsan will wrap up this week’s league schedule.

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