'Hell Gateing'1st place Ulsan HD,'Shooting 26 slugfest'0 draw with 2nd place Gimcheon Sangmu'Still 5 points apart'

Oct 19, 2024

'Hell Gateing'1st place Ulsan HD,'Shooting 26 slugfest'0 draw with 2nd place Gimcheon Sangmu'Still 5 points apart'
photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association
'Hell Gateing'1st place Ulsan HD,'Shooting 26 slugfest'0 draw with 2nd place Gimcheon Sangmu'Still 5 points apart'
photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association
The direction of victory is still in the fog.

Gimcheon Sangmu and Ulsan HD tied 0-0 in the 34th round of the 'Hana Bank K League 1 2024' held at Gimcheon Stadium on the 19th. The gap between No. 1 Ulsan (62 points) and No. 2 Gimcheon (57 points) is still five points.

Gimcheon utilized a 4-3-3 formation. With Park Sang-hyuk at the center, Kim Kyung-joon and Mo Jae-hyun led the attack. Lee Seung-won, Kim Bong-soo, and Seo Min-woo helped from behind. Cho Hyun-taek, Park Chan-yong, Park Seung-wook, and Park Soo-il were in charge of defense. Kim Dong-heon defended the goal.



Ulsan came up with a 4-4-2 tactic. Joo Min-kyu and Kang Yoon-gu made it to the top. Rubik's Son, Ko Seung-beom, Jung Woo-young and Lee Chung-yong coordinated the midfield. Lee Myung-jae, Kim Ki-hee, Kim Young-kwon, and Yoon Il-rok were located in Four Back. The goalkeeper's gloves were worn by Cho Hyun-woo.

'Hell Gateing'1st place Ulsan HD,'Shooting 26 slugfest'0 draw with 2nd place Gimcheon Sangmu'Still 5 points apart'
photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association
'Hell Gateing'1st place Ulsan HD,'Shooting 26 slugfest'0 draw with 2nd place Gimcheon Sangmu'Still 5 points apart'
photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association
It was an important game that determined the direction of winning this season. The two teams finished first and second in the regular league. Ulsan (61 points) and Gimcheon (56 points) were competing for the lead with five points between them. If Ulsan won on this day, it could have gained a very advantageous position to win three consecutive championships. On the contrary, if Gimcheon wins, the door to hell opens.



The head coaches of both teams said in one mouth that `a very important match.' However, there was a difference in how the game was run. 'Home Team' Gimcheon put Lee Dong-kyung and Kim Dae-won on the bench. He seemed to put more weight in the second half than in the first half. 'Original Team'Ulsan put all A team members, including Joo Min-gyu, Jo Hyeon-woo and Lee Myung-jae, as starters. He was determined to push him from the beginning.

'Hell Gateing'1st place Ulsan HD,'Shooting 26 slugfest'0 draw with 2nd place Gimcheon Sangmu'Still 5 points apart'
photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association
The game has begun. Ulsan took the lead. Rubik'sson and Ko Seung-beom Kang Yoon-gu aimed at the opponent's goal by attempting to shoot one after another. Gimcheon escaped the crisis with goalkeeper Kim Dong-heon's good defense. Gimcheon launched a counterattack midway through the first half. However, Seo Min-woo's shot was deflected and missed, and Park Sang-hyuk and Kim Kyung-joon's shots also did not lead to a goal.



The game between the two teams became more intense. In the 44th minute of the first half, Ulsan's Joo Min-kyu connected Lee Myung-jae's cross with a shot. However, his shot was blocked by Kim Dong-heon's good defense. Gimcheon immediately launched a counterattack. In the corner kick situation, Kim Kyung-joon's shot accurately aimed at the Ulsan goal, but Rubik'sson blocked it with super clearings. The first half ended 0-0.

'Hell Gateing'1st place Ulsan HD,'Shooting 26 slugfest'0 draw with 2nd place Gimcheon Sangmu'Still 5 points apart'
photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association
At the beginning of the second half, both teams used replacement cards. Gimcheon put Kim Dae-won instead of Kim Kyung-joon and Ulsan put Ataru instead of Kang Yoon-gu. Ulsan made the change once again in the 13th minute of the second half by excluding Joo Min-gyu and adding Yago. Gimcheon did not miss Ulsan's clutter, and Kim Dae-won and Park Soo-il tried to shoot one after another. Ulsan overcame the crisis with Joo Min-kyu's super save.

The two teams played the game at the same time. In the 20th minute of the second half, Gimcheon put Lee Dong-kyung instead of Mo Jae-hyun. Ulsan put Kim Ji-hyun and Matheus without Lee Chung-yong and Jung Woo-young. Ulsan drove the attack. Yago tried to shoot one after another. Gimcheon blocked it with his whole body. Gimcheon chose to replace it once more. Instead of Park Soo-il and Park Sang-hyuk, Kim Kang-san and Yoo Kang-hyun were added.

Ulsan increased the intensity of its attack with Yago. At the beginning of the extra time in the second half, Gimcheon began to endure by putting Maeng Sung-woong instead of Seo Min-woo. The two teams poured 26 shots (14 Gimcheon + 12 Ulsan), but finished the game 0-0.



epi17@sportschosun.com