‘Obansuk Theater Goal’ Incheon wins 2-1 over Suwon FC…

Professional soccer K League 1 side Incheon United jumped to fourth place in the standings with a dramatic goal from Oh Ban-seok just before the end of the game.

Incheon defeated Suwon FC 2-1 away from home in the 28th round of the Hana OneQ K League 2023 on Friday afternoon at Suwon Sports Complex.

With the three points, Incheon jumped two spots to fourth place with 40 points, behind third-place Jeonbuk Hyundai (41 points).

Incheon is also unbeaten in its last four matches, including a 1-1 draw in Rounds 26 and 27 and a 3-1 victory over Vietnam’s Hai Phong FC in the 2023-2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) Playoffs (PO) after 120 minutes of extra-time at the Incheon Football Stadium three days ago.

Having split their last 10 matches with Suwon FC with two wins, six draws and two defeats, Incheon picked up a valuable point and moved one step closer to securing a top-six finish.

Meanwhile, Suwon FC, which had won 2-1 against last-place Gangwon FC in its previous match, failed to extend its point difference with 11th-place Suwon Samsung (22 points), putting the brakes on its bid to escape the relegation zone.

Incheon, who had played a 120-minute extra-time thriller three days earlier, went into the first half without key players such as Mugosa, Jerso and Hernandez in the starting lineup.

Nevertheless, Incheon continued to create offensive chances with Chun Sung-hoon and Mpoku at center and right flank, respectively.

After a 10-minute stoppage due to a sinkhole in the ground midway through the match, Incheon took the lead with 12 minutes of first-half added time.

Kim Yeon-soo’s forward through ball broke down Suwon FC’s defense in one fell swoop, and when Kim Jun-yup was brought down by the goalkeeper in the right penalty area, Chun Sung-hoon, who was in the penalty arc, slid the ball into the back of the net with his right foot and slotted it into the empty net.

After conceding the equalizer to Suwon FC’s Lee Seung-woo’s header just 48 seconds into the second half, Incheon brought on Mugosa and Hernandez in the ninth minute of the second half to try to turn things around.

But instead, they allowed Suwon FC, who attacked with Lee Seung-woo and Kim Hyun, to take shots and hit the crossbar twice.

In the 42nd minute of the second half, Suwon FC’s Lopez, excited by Incheon’s rough defense of Kim Jun-yup, swung his right hand and hit Kim Jun-yup in the face, resulting in an immediate ejection.

Incheon did not let their numerical advantage slip away, and from a corner kick opportunity just before the end of the match, Oh Ban-seok scored the dramatic final goal with a header to win the match.

Meanwhile, a sinkhole appeared on the field around the 27th minute of the first half and the match was suspended for about 10 minutes before resuming.

Suwon FC’s Kim Hyun limped after stepping on the area, and when Incheon Mpoku lifted the turf slightly, a huge sinkhole appeared.

The sinkhole appeared to be the size of an adult male’s foot in diameter as captured by the replay cameras, and the depth reached an adult male’s elbow as a club official stuck his hand into the sinkhole to check it out.

In addition, Suwon FC Shinsegae was hit in the face by Chun Sung-hoon’s elbow while contesting an aerial ball in first-half stoppage time, and left the field with significant bleeding near his right eye. 먹튀검증