Relegation war, guillotine match… Suwon/Gangwon wins, Suwon FC loses – Seoul Newspaper

Suwon 1-0 Seoul, Gangwon 2-0 Suwon FC
10th place Gangwon, 12th place Suwon 1st place points
38R automatic relegation covered in the final match

The professional soccer K-League 1 relegation war, including direct relegation, resulted in a guillotine match in the final game of the season.

Suwon Samsung defeated FC Seoul 1-0 thanks to Basani’s brilliant first goal in the K League 1 2023 Final B 37th round away game held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 25th.

Suwon, who went undefeated in 3 consecutive games including 2 consecutive wins and accumulated 32 points (35 goals), still remained in 12th place, but the point gap with 10th place Gangwon FC (33 points, 30 goals) was 1 point, boosting their dream of escaping from the bottom. They had the same number of points as 11th place Suwon FC (43 goals), but fell behind in scoring.

Gangwon, which was in 11th place, defeated Suwon FC 2-0 that day, moving up one place and pushing Suwon FC to 11th place. Gangwon-do is showing its strength by going undefeated in 3 games, including 2 wins in a row. Suwon FC has been struggling with a winless streak (3 draws and 5 losses) in the last 8 games, including 3 consecutive losses.

In this season’s Final B, FC Seoul (54 points) took 7th place, Daejeon Hana Citizen took 8th place (50 points), and Jeju United (40 points) took 9th place, with the three teams of Gangwon, Suwon, and Suwon FC fighting a relegation battle. It’s happening.

As a result, the lowest 12th place, which is automatically relegated, will be decided through the guillotine match in the 38th round of the season finale held on the 2nd of the new month. Suwon will face Gangwon at home, and Suwon FC will play away to Jeju. One of the three teams must play in K League 2 next season. Of course, even if we get out of last place and avoid automatic relegation, we are not completely out of the crisis. In K League 1, 10th and 11th places will try to remain through promotion playoffs (PO) with K League 2 teams.

Suwon, who had suffered three consecutive losses in the super match against Seoul, escaped the crisis of automatic relegation with a dramatic victory in the last super match of the season held on this day in enemy territory. In the 18th minute of the second half, Basani drove the ball forward from near the center circle and hit a low left-footed mid-range shot from in front of the penalty arc, straight into the net. Seoul was disappointed when Osmar was sent off in the 43rd minute of the second half.

Gangwon won a complete victory over Suwon FC in Gangneung. In the 19th minute of the first half, Lee Jeong-hyeop, who received a pass from Kim Dae-won, pushed the ball in from the center of the penalty area to score the first goal, and in the 37th minute of the second half, Kim Jin-ho scored the key goal. Lee Jeong-hyeop, who scored his second goal of the season, shed tears while looking at the sky for a long time, remembering his father-in-law who passed away this morning.

In Final A, the competition for the Asian Champions League ticket (ACL) continues until the end. Starting from the 2024-25 season, ACL will be divided into ACLE, the highest level competition, and ACL2, the second division. This season, K-League 1 champion Ulsan Hyundai and Korea Football Association (FA) Cup winner Pohang Steelers have advanced directly to the ACLE, and the winner of the ACLE playoff and ACL2 qualifications must be determined. Originally, the 2nd place team in the league will participate in the ACLE playoffs, but as Pohang defeated Daegu FC 1-0 on this day and confirmed 2nd place (63 points), the 3rd place team will participate in the ACLE playoffs and the 4th place team will play in ACL2. .

However, Jeonbuk Hyundai defeated Gwangju FC 2-0 in the home game thanks to consecutive goals by Ahn Hyeon-beom and Song Min-gyu, accumulating 57 points and jumping to 4th place. They are undefeated in the last 5 league games (3 wins, 2 draws) and are on the rise. Due to the loss on this day, there is a possibility of the ACL stage for Gwangju in 3rd place with 58 points, Jeonbuk in 4th place with 1 point behind, and Incheon United in 5th place (56 points). 6th place Daegu (50 points) failed to advance to the Asian stage next season.

Reporter Hong Ji-min