August 14: 1st Gimcheon, 2nd Gimpo, 3rd Gyeongnam, 4th Busan, 5th Anyang, 6th Bucheon…

August 15 : 1st Gimcheon (48 points), 2nd Busan (44 points), 3rd Gimpo (42 points), 4th Gyeongnam (41 points), 5th Anyang (39 points), 6th Bucheon (38 points)…

In professional soccer’s K League 2 (second division), Gimcheon Commerce held on to its lead over Seoul Earth thanks to Cho Young-wook’s 12th goal of the season, and the race for the top spot is becoming increasingly tight.

Gimcheon extended its lead at the top of the table (48 points) with a 4-0 home win over Eland in the 26th round of the Hana OneQ K League 2 2023 at Gimcheon Sports Complex in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province on Friday.

Busan I-Park moved up two spots from fourth to second (44 points) with a 1-0 win over Jeonnam Dragons.

Gimpo FC, which had jumped from fifth to second after defeating Cheonan City FC the day before, dropped to the margins one day after Busan.

Gyeongnam FC, which was also in second place until the previous day’s match, lost to sixth-ranked Bucheon FC and dropped to third place, and then to fourth place following the results of the 15th round.

The race for second place has become even tighter as leaders Gimcheon have been unbeatable at home for more than two months, extending their home winning streak to six games, dating back to their June 10 match against the Ansan Greeners in Round 16.

With the loss to Gimcheon, Lee Land remained in 11th place (26 points), unable to get out of the winless tunnel for the eighth game in a row (three draws and five losses).

Gimcheon, who took the lead in the 39th minute through Won Doo-jae’s header off a cross from Kim Hyun-wook, extended their lead to 2-0 18 minutes into the second half when Lee Jun-seok’s ground ball from the left side of the penalty area found the bottom left corner of the goal.

Gimcheon goalkeeper Cho Young-wook, whose quick feet and penetrating runs shook up the Lee Land defense, opened the scoring in the second half just two minutes into the third period.

Cho appeared to score Gimcheon’s third goal midway through the second half when he darted in behind the defense, but the goal was disallowed after video assistant referee (VAR) ruled that a teammate had fouled him in the box.

In the 44th minute, Cho Young-wook’s hard shot from the right square of the goal hit the post.

Cho’s goal came with less than a minute left in regulation.

In the 52nd minute, Kim rattled the net with a right-footed shot from the front of the goal area off a pass from Kim Min-joon. 먹튀검증

The goal was reviewed by VAR for nearly two minutes, and Cho was visibly upset.

With his 12th goal of the season, Cho Young-wook surpassed Valdivia (Jeonnam) and Glayson (Gyeongnam) to become the sole leader in the scoring rankings with 11 goals.

Gimcheon completed the 4-0 victory three minutes later with a wedge goal from Politician.