Professional soccer K League 2 newcomer Chungbuk Cheongju FC won the final ‘Chungcheongnam Derby’ of the season.
Chungbuk Cheongju defeated Chungnam Asan FC 1-0 in the 38th round of the Hana OneQ K League 2 2023 at Cheongju Stadium in Chungcheongbuk-do on Nov. 11.
With the victory, sixth-ranked Chungbuk Cheongju (13 wins, 12 draws and 10 losses), which has accumulated 51 points, continued to harbor faint hopes of qualifying for the semi-final playoffs (PO).
In K League 2, the fifth-place team will play the fourth-place team in a semi-PO before facing the third-place team, and the winner will play the 10th-place team from K League 1 in a relegation PO.
Currently in fifth place is Gyeongnam FC (53-14 wins, 11 draws, and 9 losses), with a goal difference of two points over Chungbuk Cheongju.
With the win, Chungbuk Cheongju also got their first win over their ‘Chungcheong rivals’, Chungnam Asan, whom they hadn’t beaten all season.
In the first meeting between the two teams on April 18, Chungnam Asan won 4-0. Chungbuk Cheongju fell to their knees in the second leg on April 14, 2-3 in a hard-fought match.
The balance between the two teams, which was tied 0-0 until the 20th minute of the second half, tilted sharply in favor of Chungbuk Cheongju thanks to Yang Ji-hoon’s ‘one shot’.
In a corner kick situation, the ball cleared by the opponent’s defense flowed near the penalty area, and Yang Ji-hoon rushed forward and fired a mid-range shot into the corner of the opposite goal.
Chungnam Asan (42-12 points, six draws and 18 losses), which lost for the first time to newcomers Chungbuk Cheongju, dropped to 10th place behind Seongnam FC (44-11 points, 11 draws and 13 losses).
In their previous away match, Seongnam defeated Seoul Eland 2-0 to move up to ninth place.
Meanwhile, 11th-ranked Eland (35-10 W, 5 D, 20 L) suffered their fifth straight defeat and continued to struggle down the stretch.
After losing 3-4 at home to Ansan in September, Lee Land has lost all four matches since then. Their last win came more than two months ago, a 1-0 away victory over Chungbuk Cheongju on Sept. 19.
Seongnam took the lead in the 41st minute through Shin Jae-won.
Shin Jae-won headed in a cross from the left flank that hit the post and rebounded out of play, and then rattled the net with his right foot.
In the 42nd minute, Park Ji-won, who penetrated into the space behind Lee Land during a counterattack, slid a left-footed cross from Jeon Sung-soo into the net to drive a wedge into the match. 토토사이트