With two rounds to go, this season's K-League will come to an end, and Ulsan Hyundai, as the "second of the millennium" in South Korea, will stand up this time, as they will end Jeonbuk Hyundai's five consecutive championships, and end their own three consecutive runner-ups, winning the K-League title again after 17 years.
table of scores (in exams or sports league)
On top, Ulsan Hyundai, with 21 wins, 10 draws and 5 losses, is ranked 1st with 73 points, 6 points ahead of second-place Jeonbuk Hyundai, and is guaranteed to win the title with just one more point with two matches to go.
Ulsan defensive center and South Korean international played for Guangzhou
Evergrande (name)
of Kim said, "The championship is getting closer, but we won't have any relaxation until the trophy is in our hands."
Ulsan players and fans celebrate
drop the chain
Jeonbuk Hyundai is a true K-League juggernaut, having won five consecutive titles in the last five years, and Ulsan Hyundai has been the one to beat in the last three years.
In the 2017 season, Jeonbuk won the title with 75 points, 9 points ahead of 2nd-place Jeju United; in the 2018 season, Jeonbuk scored a wild 86 points, 21 points ahead of 2nd-place Gyeongnam FC to easily win the title, and Ulsan Hyundai trailed Jeonbuk by 23 points in the league that year.
In the 2019 season, Ulsan rose to the top of the K-League regular season, grabbing a one-point lead over Jeonbuk going into the Champions League race, and a two-point lead over Jeonbuk before the final two rounds of the Champions League race.
Then the direct dialogue between the two teams, 1-1 draw; the final round only need to win at home to win the title, but the key moment the team fell off the chain, the final game 1-4 defeat Pohang, Jeonbuk 1-0 defeat Gangwon, the final two teams have the same amount of 79 points, but the Ulsan goal difference is at a disadvantage, sorry to lose the title.
In the 2020 season, Ulsan was still strong, 1st in the K League regular season, 2 points ahead of Jeonbuk in the championship group, and in the most crucial direct dialogue with Jeonbuk in the championship group, Ulsan lost 0-1, and Jeonbuk eventually reversed Ulsan in the championship group to win the title again.
The good news is that Ulsan won the 2020 AFC Championship, but the
commander-in-chief
Kim Do-hoon left at the end of his contract and Hong Myung-po, who coached Hangzhou Greentown, took over.
At the start of his tenure, Hong vowed to lead Ulsan back to the league title and avoid the embarrassment of 16 years without a league title.
In the 2021 season, Ulsan and Jeonbuk entered the Championship Group race with the same 64 points in the regular season, and when it came to the Championship Group race, Ulsan dropped the ball again.
In a direct clash with Jeonbuk, Ulsan was whistled away by Jeonbuk in the final moments of full-time injury time, with goals scored for Jeonbuk by the same team that scored before the start of the season and by
China Super League (soccer league)
Shandong Taishan prefecture level city in Shandong
as well as
Shanghai harbor
Ilyuchenko, who has been rumored to be a player, was assisted by Japanese player Gihiro Kunimoto, who was dismissed by Jeonbuk for drink-driving this year.
This season, Ulsan has been strong all the way, leading the way until the end of the regular season and entering the race for the title group with a five-point advantage, and this time they didn't drop the ball and took the initiative completely into their own hands.
kill
Looking at the results, it's true that Ulsan didn't drop the ball, but the process, well, it was a real sweat.
On October 8, in the second round of the Champions League, Ulsan will face their old rivals Jeonbuk in what is known as the "Hyundai Derby" in the K-League.
In the "modern derby" in the history of the K-League, Jeonbuk has 40 wins, 29 draws and 38 losses, slightly ahead.
Prior to this marquee match, Ulsan also played Jeonbuk in the Korean
national soccer team
In the semi-finals of the Total Cup, Ulsan lost 1-2 in extra time and did not qualify for the final.
Leonardo clashes with Jeonbuk players
In the final moments of that game, Ulsan's top scorer, who has been a member of the team this season from the
Shandong Taishan prefecture level city in Shandong
On-loan signing Leonardo clashed with an opponent, headbutting him in the face and was red-carded after the referee saw VAR, and Ulsan, playing with 10 men in extra time, eventually lost 1-2.
After the match, Hong Mingfu lambasted Leonardo for his foolish behavior, but the results could not be changed for the 8th:
"Bet it all!"
More than 20,000 fans showed up on the day of the match, the largest home crowd for Ulsan this season.
Ulsan took the initiative but Barrow broke the deadlock for Jeonbuk in the 34th minute, after which Ulsan poured on Jeonbuk furiously but could not break through.
It wasn't until injury time that former South Korean international Lee Cheong Ryong created a handball in the penalty area by a Jeonbuk player, and the referee awarded a penalty after seeing the VAR, which Hungarian striker Adam took at one stroke to assist Ulsan to equalize the score.
Whistling for the equalizer, but it wasn't over.
In the 10th minute of injury time, Ulsan won a corner kick, Lee Kyu-sung crossed the ball and Martin grabbed the header for the shutout.
Throughout the second half, Ulsan had 68% possession and 17 shots on goal, eventually finishing the impossible with two goals from Adam in injury time.
Hong Myung-bo and the players were close to going crazy, and the Ulsan fans watching the game were in tears.
A female fan said, "When I scored the killer goal, I had goosebumps all over my body, I was so excited that I couldn't stop the tears from flowing, and we finally stood up."
Hong Mingfu celebrates the shutout with a flyer
After the match, Hong Myung-bo was very happy: "In today's match, the mental strength should exceed the tactics and strategies, if we concede one more goal, we will collapse, and the match with Jeonbuk, it's really difficult to win the game in this way, and we have grown up a lot."
Of course, he was also calm, "I will only enjoy the pleasure of this victory today, because there is not much time left for us to prepare for the next one."
The grand finale?
Ulsan in total after reverse shutout of Jeonbuk
table of scores (in exams or sports league)
The team has now grabbed an eight-point lead with three games to go, and needs only one more win to guarantee the title in the bag.
Their next opponent is Pohang.
Yeah, it's Pohang again.
In the 2019 season, Ulsan lost the title to Pohang at home in the end after a great situation; in the 2020 season, they lost in a direct match with Jeonbuk, but before that, they lost to Pohang in the same way, and it was still a bad loss, 0-4.
If Jeonbuk is a thorn in the side, then Pohang is a thorn in Ulsan's flesh.
11, Ulsan in the first half advanced a goal, the second half by the Pohang leveled, the final 1-1, not early to win the championship, but the good thing is that this time Ulsan grabbed enough points.
With two games to go, Ulsan only needs one more point and the title is secure.
The two opponents are Gangwon and Jeju United, and Ulsan is still known as the "Gangwon Killer", never lost to this opponent in the past 10 years, even if the loss, Jeonbuk does not win, Ulsan will still be early to win the championship.
Ulsan players celebrate the victory
The Korean media believes that 99% of this season's K-League title has now gone to Ulsan.
But Gangwon's
commander-in-chief
And also
Chinese fan
Choi Yong-soo, an old acquaintance, thinks otherwise.
"We haven't won against Ulsan in 10 years, but we want to play a role that sends the message that 'you have to go to the end to know the result' and we want to give the fans a gift in our final home game."
Jeonbuk doesn't think so either, "There are still two games left, although the timing is confusing, we won't give up."
This season's Jeonbuk has indeed not been easy either, with injuries, the release of key players from DUIs, and a double header, especially in the AFC Champions League knockout rounds where they played 3 consecutive games in extra time and won 2, but lost on penalties to Urawa Red Diamonds in the East Asian final, and did not qualify for the final.
Resilient Jeonbuk, back in the league, also dragged Ulsan all the way to the end.
But the big picture is now hard to change.
In the 37th round of the K-League on October 16th, Ulsan travels to Gangwon and Jeonbuk travels to Jeju, with the title likely to be revealed early.
An Ulsan official stated, "The players don't want to bear the wounds from before, and are using their talents to solve it in every game, every season, and even the team is very shy about using words like 'failure'."
Will the "Happy Eeding" that Ulsan has been waiting for come early?
