Pohang Steelers 1-2 FC Seoul ( att : 0 ) – K League

May 22, 2020

The third round of the K-League season kicked off with a Friday night ( local time ) match between the sides that finished fourth and third in the 2019 season, Pohang Steelers and FC Seoul. Although there were several unofficial channels appearing to be streaming the match live on YouTube, I decided to stick with the feed from Bet365.

Pohang started with season with a comfortable home win over Busan IPark in which Russian Stanislav Iljutcenko ( ex MSV Duisburg & VFL Osnabruck ) looked a handful upfront and Serbian playmaker Alexsandr Palocevic controlled the game. However, in week two they only managed a 1-1 draw at Daegu and although Palocevic’s neat finish gave the Steelers a first half lead, once Daegu equalised Pohang were hanging on a little to take a point.

FC Seoul were shocked in a cracking match at Gangwon, losing 1-3 after taking the lead. In week 2 though, Chan Hee Han’s 25 yard strike was enough to see off Gwanju. However, with favourites Jeonbuk and Ulsan both having maximum points after two rounds, both sides were in need of a win today to stay in touch with the leaders.

Pohang is 340km by road from Seoul and the Steelers are owned by POSCO ( Pohang Iron and Steel Company ), not just one of the largest Steel companies in the world but also one of the largest Corporations. Their Stadium holds just over 17,000 ( when crowds are permitted )

FC Seoul included ex Arsenal, Monaco and Watford forward Chu Young Park but 26 cap Ju Se Jong was left on the bench. Only one of their foreign contingent was in the match-day squad, Spaniard Osmar ( ex Racing Santender ) in the holding midfield role.

As in the previous two weeks, crowd singing and drumming was audible over the tannoy, and around 50 fans had been painted onto murals in one of the stands, together with two furry animal type mascots. Seoul did not this time have any mannequins advertising sex-toys in the away end……….

Around the stadium were some signs in English. In particular over the players' exit was written “This Is Steel Yard” presumably in some kind of “This is Anfield” homage, and the furry mascots were once seen holding up a “We are Steelers” placard. The scoreboard was also seen advertising the Steelers’ next home match, but I’m not sure why or the whom this was intended.

Pohang took the lead after just four minutes with a comedy goal of the highest order. Seoul centre back Nam Chun Kim ( No 4 )

was shepherding a harmless ball back to his keeper, but as he went to run away his foot touched the ball to send it past the stranded keeper leaving Iljutcenko with probably the easiest tap-in in his career. It was well worth the admission money to see, so to speak !

Seoul responded well to this set-back with Seung Gyu Han ( No 66 ) blazing high and wide after jinking past the full back, and Osmar ( No 5 ) heading over when left unmarked from a corner. Although Palocevic ghosted into the Seoul area forcing the keeper to tip over his athletic header, Seoul equalised on 35 minutes when Hyun Soo Huang ( No 2 ) was left free from Park’s corner but this time his header from 8 yards found the corner of the net with the Pohang keeper motionless.

Both sides continued to play neat possession football on the floor, with plenty of running off the ball, but it remained 1-1 at half-time.

Pohang started the second half strongly, with Palocevic playing in Kwang Hyeok Lee ( No 11 ) whose flick was straight at the advancing keeper but seconds later with the move being kept alive, Lee’s goal bound header hit Iljutcenko, who was standing in an offside position.

On 57 minutes Kwang Seok Kim’s ( No 3 ) header hit the bar but the Seoul keeper was able to push the ball away  before the diving Chang Rae Ha ( No 5 ) could head in. However, they collided and Ha had to go off injured.

After this Pohang faded and after Han’s shot was deflected for a corner, Pohang again went to sleep and this time Osmar was the beneficiary, with his free header finding the other corner of the net to give Seoul the lead. 

Pohang look to have an obvious weakness at defending set-plays so perhaps are in need of a rugged, no-nonsense Uzbek centre back frequently found plying their trade in Korea !

Seoul looked comfortable after this, although Pohang rallied a little in injury time when Kim hit over from 6 yards, and then Iljutcenko headed harmless over.

Seoul fully deserved their win. Apart from the gift goal, Iljutcenko was well marshalled and rendered anonymous and whilst Palocevic shone in the first half, his influence was minimal in the second half.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjiPF7qicTM