A politician’s hat-trick helped professional soccer’s K League 2 Gimcheon record its first win over FC Anyang.
Gimcheon defeated Anyang 4-1 at home in the 33rd round of the Hana OneQ K League 2 2023 at Gimcheon Sports Complex on March 23.
With the three additional points, second-place Gimcheon (55 points) trails first-place Busan I-Park (59 points) by four points.
The win was Gimcheon’s first victory over Anyang in franchise history.
Prior to this day, Gimcheon had played six matches against Anyang, drawing four and losing two.
It was also their first win and goal in four games, breaking out of a three-match winless streak (one draw, two losses).
With Cho Young-wook heading to the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, Gimcheon was expected to have an uphill battle against Anyang, a team with an overwhelming head-to-head record, but the politician’s performance earned them a valuable point.
Anyang, who suffered their first ever loss against Gimcheon, dropped one place to eighth (43 points).
Politician scored the first goal of the game in the 21st minute, assisted by goalkeeper Kang Hyun-moo.
A long goal kick from Kang Hyun-moo landed in an empty area of the Anyang defense, and Politzer, who followed the ball’s path, rattled the net with his left foot from near the penalty arc.
In the 30th minute, Politician added another goal.
Gimcheon exchanged balls on the right flank to create space, and Yoon Jong-gyu slipped a pass into the center of the box from the right penalty area, where Politzer slotted it home with his left foot.
Politzer completed his hat trick in the 18th minute of the second half.
After a pass from Anyang goalkeeper Kim Sung-dong, Park Jong-hyun made a mistake with his touch on the ball, and Politician, who ran straight at him, stole the ball and scored with his left foot in the box.
Anyang made up for the deficit in the 24th minute of the second half when Lee Dong-soo split the goal with a right-footed inside kick in the box.
Outnumbered and down to their last man in the 39th minute when Gong Min-hyun was sent off for a direct challenge after video assistant referee (VAR) review, Gimcheon drove a wedge into the game when Park Min-gyu scored the team’s fourth goal with his left foot in second-half stoppage time.
At Gwangyang Stadium, newcomers Cheonan City FC came from behind to take the lead thanks to a ‘two-goal, one-assist’ performance from Paulinho.
With the three points, Cheonan dropped Ansan (20 points) to the bottom of the standings with 18 points and moved out of last place for the first time in 195 days since March 12.
Cheonan, which recorded its first back-to-back wins in club history in its last match, extended its winning streak to three games with the victory.
Without a point, Jeonnam remained on 44 points and dropped one spot to seventh in the standings.
Jeonnam took the lead in the 11th minute when Plana drove the ball from the right flank into the center of the box and curled a low left-footed shot into the corner of the net.
Cheonan’s counterattack was not without its challenges.
Cheonan equalized in the 22nd minute when Paulinho beat the defense in the penalty area in front of the goal with a strong left-footed shot into the top corner of the net.
Cheonan took the lead in the 40th minute with a picturesque goal.
From the right flank, Jeong Seok-hwa passed to Paulinho, who drove into the penalty area, and after Paulinho beat the keeper with a clever heel pass, Lee Min-soo struck the top of the net with his right foot for his first goal in the K League.
Jeonnam was outnumbered in the 42nd minute when Yu Ji-ha was sent off for accumulating cautions for a dangerous tackle on Cheonan’s Park Jun-kang.
Cheonan took the lead in the 23rd minute of the second half when Paulinho beat two defenders with a clever touch of the ball in the box and finished with his left foot. The goal was upheld after a VAR review for offside, making it a multi-goal game and a wedge goal for Paulinho.
At Tancheon Sports Complex, Chungbuk Cheongju FC defeated Seongnam FC 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Yang Ji-hoon.
With the three points, Chungbuk Cheongju jumped two spots to sixth place with 46 points.
Chungbuk Cheongju had their 14-match unbeaten streak halted in their previous home match against Seoul Eland FC, but they quickly halted the bad run with another win.
They also evened their record against Seongnam this season with one win and one draw.
Seongnam remained in ninth place with 37 points.
Chungbuk Cheongju was outplayed by Seongnam in most metrics in the first half, but took advantage of a set piece to take the lead.
Chungbuk Cheongju took the lead in the 18th minute off a free kick in the midfield area when Yang Ji-hoon chased down a second ball that bounced off the defense and finished with his right foot in the right penalty area.
Seongnam was further frustrated when Park Tae-joon’s left-footed shot hit the post before the goal.
Seongnam dominated the first half with over 60 percent of the ball possession and five shots on goal to Chungbuk Cheongju’s two, but were unable to capitalize.
In the second half, Chungbuk Cheongju dropped their defense and began to lock down the goal.
Seongnam had a chance to equalize with a header by Park Sang-hyuk just before the end of the match, but he missed the target.
Meanwhile, Seongnam goalkeeper Kim Young-gwang recorded his 600th career appearance on the day. 스포츠토토