FC Seoul scores a comfortable victory.
FC Seoul defeated Gimcheon Commerce 5-1 in the fifth round of the Hana One Q K League K1 2024 at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, led by a hat trick from Ilyuchchenko.
The victory puts them in fourth place in the league with eight points from five matches, two wins, two draws and one loss. Gimcheon, on the other hand, slipped to second place in the league with nine points (three wins and two losses).
Seoul was without Lingard, whose knee is still not feeling right. Ilyuchenko, Lim Sang-hyeop, Palosevic, Cho Young-wook, Ryu Jae-moon, Ki Sung-yong, Kang Sang-woo, Kim Joo-sung, Kwon Wan-kyu, Choi Jun, and Choi Cheol-won started.
Seoul had a goal-fest in the first half. Ilyuchenko was on fire. In the 16th minute, Ilyuchenko beat a defender in a ball contest and released the ball. Cho Young-wook finished to give Seoul the lead. With a 1-0 lead, Seoul would go on the offensive. In the 34th minute, Ilyuchenko made it 2-0 when he finished off a counter-attack after Palosevic blocked the opponent’s offense.
Ilyuchenko quickly completed his multi-goal haul in the 39th minute, when he was on the receiving end of a long kick from Choi Chul-won. He made it 2-0 in the 39th minute when he slid in a precisely placed cross from Bon Ki Sung-yong. Seoul made it 4-0 in first-half stoppage time when Ilyuchenko redirected a ground ball cross from Sang-Hyun Gyun and finished. The lone goal was scored by Kim Sang-hyeon.
After going into halftime with a 4-0 lead, Seoul continued to dominate in the second half, with substitute Park Dong-jin scoring one more goal to seal the 5-1 victory. It was the first time in 591 days that Ilyuchenko had scored a multi-goal game.
At the same time, Incheon United were also smiling. In an away match at the Gwangju Football Stadium, Incheon defeated Gwangju FC 3-2 on the strength of a theatrical goal from Gerso in second-half stoppage time. The victory extended Incheon’s winning streak to two games and moved them to eight points. Gwangju, meanwhile, faltered with its third straight loss.
The day was a back-and-forth affair. Park Seung-ho scored the first goal in the 32nd minute, followed by Mugosa’s header four minutes into the second half. The goals gave Incheon a quick 2-0 lead. However, Gwangju responded in the second half with a goal from Gabriel in the 21st minute, and Lee Hee-gyun equalized in the 32nd minute to tie the game at 2-2.
The game was decided in second-half stoppage time, when Gwangju goalkeeper Kim Kyung-min was sent off for a handball foul while stopping a counterattack by Incheon Jerso. This left Gwangju without a substitute card, so field player Ha Seung-woon put on the goalkeeper’s gloves.
This proved to be the turning point. Incheon scored the dramatic winner in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time when Ha’s mishandling of the ball allowed the bouncing ball to hit Gerso in the face.
At the Chuncheon Songam Sports Town, Gangwon FC (P6) recorded their first win of the season with a 3-0 victory over Daegu FC (P4), led by a multi-goal performance from Lee Sang-heon. After going winless in four matches (three draws and one loss) since the start of the season, Gangwon secured a maiden victory in front of their home fans with the win over Daegu.
Kangwon took the lead in the 13th minute off a free kick by Yoon Seok-young, before Lee Sang-heon completed his hat-trick in the 19th and 45th minutes to seal the 3-0 victory.