This month, most of the attention has been on the Under-20 World Cup that took place around Korea. The competition led to disruption for several K-League sides, including Jeju United, who had to play a Champions’ League knockout game at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon in order to accommodate the U-20 tournament. The inconvenience of the tournament didn’t seem to affect Jeju’s form though; the islanders started the month with an impressive 4-0 win away to Jeonbuk, with goals from their foreign trio of Mendy, Cruz, and Toscano. The win cemented Jeju’s position as genuine title challengers, and they followed that result up with a 4-1 victory over Sangju Sangju. They’ve only dropped points in one match so far this month, a two-one defeat to Pohang, and if not for the postponement of their match against Gwangju, Jeju could’ve ended May at the top of the league. Jeonbuk still hold that top spot, and are undefeated in the four games they played since their battering by Jeju, with two wins and two draws. Pohang have also turned around their form this month, beating Jeju, and coming back from two goals down to beat FC Seoul by three goals to two. Pohang are up to third in the table. Behind them are Ulsan and Gangwon, both of whom went through May undefeated, with Gangwon striker Lee Geun-ho’s form earning him a recall to the national team. May has been nothing short of disastrous for FC Seoul. Last season’s champions beat Jeonnam Dragons at the start of the month, but haven’t won in the league since, and have fallen from title challengers to a bottom-half team in the space of a month. A turgid performance at home to Busan also ended their FA Cup run, and after their abysmal showing in the Champions’ League at the start of the season, 2017 looks like it will be a trophyless year for the side from the capital. Change is needed in the summer if they are looking to challenge for an ACL place in the second half of the season. Sangju started the season well, but stuttered badly this month, picking up a solitary point, in a two-all home draw with Seoul. As a result, they’ve fallen all the way down to ninth in the table. Bottom side Incheon’s form picked up a bit in May. They earned themselves five points despite not playing a single game at home all month, but are still three points adrift of eleventh placed Gwangju.
|
Despite a one-nil defeat to Gwangju, Jeonbuk ended April three points clear at the top of the league, thanks mainly to wins over fellow top-four clubs Sangju and Pohang. Below them, the league is still pretty tight with only six points separating second placed Jeju United and eleventh placed Gangwon. Incheon United prop up the table with just three points to their name, largely due to defensive errors, star defender Matej Jonjic's winter move to Cerezo Osaka hitting them hard. Their match against Seoul, where they lost three-nil, conceding some very weak goals, missing some great chances, and having bad refereeing decisions go against them, sums up their season so far. At the start of the month, Jeonnam were in a similar position to Incheon, but three wins on the bounce, including a five-nil win over Ulsan, has pulled them back up to mid-table.
Suwon Bluewings finally got their first win in the league with a two-one win over Gangwon on the 22nd, with Shin Hwa-yong saving a last minute penalty to earn the three points. Kim Min-woo scored a great goal to help the Bluewings follow that win up with a second two-one win on the road, this time against Jeju United, a result which helped Suwon break back into the top six. Jeju remain second despite that result, although they have been unable to maintain their early season momentum. A few draws and defeats at the start of the month saw them lose top spot to Jeonbuk, who they face next in a top-of-the-table clash. Pohang started the month with a series of wins against the league’s strugglers which helped them climb to second in the table, and Yang Dong-hyun to the top of the goalscorer's chart, Since then however, they came unstuck against the league’s better sides, losing to Jeonbuk and Sangju in their last two matches. With Seoul, Jeju, and in-form Suwon coming up, May could see Pohang slide back down into the bottom half of the table. |
