Franko Kovacevic of Gangwon FC (L) celebrates after scoring against Gwangju FC during the clubs’ K League 1 match at Gangneung Stadium in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Aug. 18, 2024, in this photo provided by the Korea Professional Football League. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Gangwon FC continued their torrid pace in the top domestic football league over the weekend, setting a club record for wins in a season while opening up a four-point lead atop the tables.
Gangwon defeated Gwangju FC 3-2 on Sunday at home in Gangneung, some 160 kilometers east of Seoul, for their fourth consecutive win, after rallying from a 2-0 deficit with three unanswered markers. Franko Kovacevic had two of those goals, as Gangwon celebrated the victory in front of a club-record 13,170 fans.
Gangwon reached 50 points on 15 wins, five draws and seven losses, four points ahead of Gimcheon Sangmu FC for first place in the K League 1.
The 15 wins are most for a single season in Gangwon’s history, dating to 2008. They won 14 matches on three previous occasions.
Gangwon have also tied the club record with 50 points, set in 2019. They have 11 matches left this year to try to break that mark.
After never having finished higher than sixth place, Gangwon are trying to capture their first league title. They hung around the middle of the tables earlier in the year before soaring to the top in July.
In seven matches since the start of July, no club has picked up more points than Gangwon’s 16. They also lead the league with 16 goals scored in that span.
In contrast, two-time defending champions Ulsan HD FC have managed only seven points in their past seven matches, with two wins, one draw and four losses. They are now in third place with 45 points, unable to keep pace with Gangwon after losing to Suwon FC 2-1 on Sunday.
This was Ulsan’s eighth loss this year. They had eight losses all of last season and just six losses in 2022.
Ulsan went through some midseason turmoil in July when their head coach Hong Myung-bo left the club to take the South Korean men’s national team job. Former Malaysia boss Kim Pan-gon took over in late July, but Ulsan are now closer to sixth place, currently occupied by FC Seoul (42 points) than they are to first place.
Suwon FC earned their first victory since July 21, and former national team midfielder Son Jun-ho scored his first K League goal in nearly four years in this win.
Son signed with Suwon in June, about a month after being released from a yearlong detention in China. He had last played in the K League 1 in 2020 and spent the next three years in China before returning home earlier this year.
(Yonhap)
