K-League Wrap: Steelers reach play-offs with Daejon win

Pohang Steelers sealed their place in the K-League championship play-offs with a 1-0 win over Daejeon Citizen on Sunday.

In the top-versus-bottom encounter, Hwang Ji-Soo’s 60th-minute penalty was the only thing to separate the sides, but it comfortably clinched the three points for the visitors.

The victory marks the fourth in a row for Hwang Sun-Hong’s team, and with Ulsan only managing a draw with third-placed Jeonbuk Motors on Saturday, they increased their dominance at the top of the table and also became the first side to officially seal a spot in the championship play-offs.

Ulsan may have been happy to escape with a point from the clash at their home Munsu Stadium after Kevin Oris and Alex Wilkinson had put Jeonbuk two goals up at half-time.

The hosts had Kim Shin-Wook to thank as he netted twice in the space of 10 second-half minutes to restore parity.

Seoul, in fourth, continue to keep the heat on the top three in after picking up their sixth consecutive league win, overcoming Incheon United 3-2 on Saturday.

An epic clash at Sungeui Arena Park saw Seoul pegged back twice after taking going 1-0 and 2-1 up, but Incheon could find no answer for Dejan Damjanovic’s 90th-minute effort.

Towards the bottom of the table, Gangwon, in 13th, and 11th-placed Gyeongnam both fell to heavy losses, going down 4-0 and 3-0 to Jeju United and Suwon Bluewings respectively.

Jeju jumped out of the relegation-round spots wither their win courtesy of Busan l’Park’s defeat at Seongnam, who themselves boosted their hopes of reaching the post-season championship play-off round.

Chunnam Dragons are unlikely to haul themselves into the top seven, and their 1-1 draw at home to Daegu ended the visitors’ slim hopes of guaranteed survival.