Daejeon cut six-game winless streak in time for Hwang Sun-hong's return

Daejeon Hana Citizen escaped the bottom of the K League 1 table with a 1-0 win over Daegu FC on Sunday, while Ulsan HD claimed the frontrunner spot after a 1-0 victory over Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors the day before.

Daegu FC forward Cesinha, center, in action during a K League 1 match against Daejeon Hana Citizen at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon in a photo shared on Daegu FC's official Facebook account on Sunday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Daejeon Hana Citizen escaped the bottom of the K League 1 table with a 1-0 win over Daegu FC on Sunday, while defending champions Ulsan HD claimed the frontrunner spot after a 1-0 victory over Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors the day before.

The match at Daejeon World Cup Stadium in Daejeon saw two struggling sides — Daegu sitting in 11th and Daejeon at the bottom of the 12-team table before the kickoff — go head to head.

Neither side broke through until almost the end of the game when Peniel Mlapa scored the winner for Daejeon in the 84th minute and sealed an important three points.

Sunday’s win cut a six-game winless streak by Daejeon and allowed them to switch positions with Daegu on the league table.

A struggling Daejeon will play their next match under Hwang Sun-hong, who was announced as a new permanent manager on Monday.

Interim manager Jung Kwang-seok led the team for about two weeks after former manager Lee Min-sung resigned last month for a poor start to the 2024 campaign.

Hwang, 55, most recently led the U-23 Korean national team that failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics after losing the AFC U-23 Asian Cup quarterfinals in April.

Hwang Sun-hong, right, looks on before an AFC U-23 Asian Cup match between Korea and China at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on April 19. [YONHAP]

The appointment also marks the second time Hwang has taken charge of Daejeon, after his first stint with the club in the 2020 K League 2 season, when he resigned in the middle of the campaign for an unimpressive run.

Daejeon, 10th-place Jeonbuk and last-place Daegu are all tied on points, at 14. Goals scored — the second deciding factor — separates the three on the table.

Jeonbuk, who faced reigning champions Ulsan on Saturday in Ulsan, suffered a 1-0 loss after allowing a stoppage-time winner to Ataru Esaka. It was their second straight loss under n ew manager Kim Do-heon, who took the helm last week.

Ulsan HD's Ataru Esaka, center, celebrates scoring during a K League 1 match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan in a photo shared on Ulsan HD's official Facebook account on Sunday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Jeonbuk still sit in 10th place but land in the relegation zone.

In the K League 1, the last-place team faces automatic relegation to the second division while the 10th and 11th-place clubs play promotion-relegation playoffs against two K League 2 sides to decide which teams secure berths in the top tier next season.

At the top of the table, Ulsan are now one point clear of second-place Gimcheon Sangmu.

Gimcheon, meanwhile, beat the Pohang Steelers 3-1 on Saturday at home. The military club’s impressive run so far this season comes ahead of the second half of the campaign that will see multiple changes in the squad with regular picks like Kim Hyeong-ug and Won Du-jae set to leave the club upon the end of military service next month.

Over in Suwon, Gyeonggi, Lee Seung-woo scored his eighth league goal of the season to lead Suwon FC to a 3-1 win against Incheon United.

Suwon FC midfielder Lee Seung-woo, right, celebrates with his teammates during a K League 1 match against Incheon United at Suwon Sports Complex in Suwon, Gyeonggi in a photo shared on Suwon FC's official Facebook account on Sunday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Lee is now the second top scorer of the season, just one goal behind Incheon forward Stefan Mugosa.

Elsewhere, Gangwon FC beat Jeju United 3-1 in Jeju on Sunday. FC Seoul lost 2-1 to Gwangju FC in Gwangju on the same day, the capital side extending their winless streak to four games.

The K League 1 will stop for two weeks due to the FIFA international break during which some players from the league will be in national team action.

The Korean national team led by interim manager Kim Do-hoon will play two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Singapore and China. The first game is set to kick off in Singapore on June 6, followed by the second fixture at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on June 11.

The two matches will decide whether Korea reach the third round of the qualifiers. Korea are the current frontrunners of Group C in the second round. Group winners and runners-up reach the next stage.

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