Jeonbuk capture 5th K League Classic title
— Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors captured their fifth South Korean professional football championship Sunday.
Jeonbuk defeated the visitors, Jeju United, 3-0 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, to secure the 2017 K League Classic crown with two matches remaining this season.
The win moved Jeonbuk to 72 points from 21 wins, nine draws and six losses. Jeju, who entered the contest trailing Jeonbuk by four points, are now seven back at 65 points.
All of Jeonbuk’s five titles have come within the past nine years. They were the champions in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2015, and runners-up in 2012 and 2016. Head coach Choi Kang-hee has been at the helm for all of those titles.
After a scoreless first half, Lee Jae-sung put Jeonbuk on the board in the 46th minute. Lee Seung-ki doubled the lead 20 minutes later, and veteran forward Lee Dong-gook scored his 200th career goal in the 78th minute to put the game out of reach.
Jeonbuk entered this game with the highest-scoring offense in the league with 66 goals in 35 matches, and they also had the stingiest defense with 31 goals allowed.
Jeonbuk were on the verge of winning last year’s title but ended up in second place behind FC Seoul after getting docked nine points by the league over a bribery scandal involving one of their scouts.
Jeonbuk came out firing from the whistle, with Kim Shin-wook and Shin Hyung-min firing shots in the fourth and 10th minutes. In the 21st, Lopes just missed the net for Jeonbuk, and the teams headed into the break scoreless.
Lee Jae-sung broke the deadlock early in the second half, converting Kim’s headed pass. And when Jeju’s defender Park Jin-po was sent off his second yellow in the 59th, Jeonbuk increased their pressure on the opposing defense.
It resulted in Lee Seung-ki’s goal off a rebound. Lee Dong-gook rounded out the scoring and reached his milestone in the process.
Choi, the head coach, said clinching the title before home fans made it extra sweet.
“It’s been a difficult season to be sure, but the players never gave up until the end,” he said. “Winning a championship is never easy, but we were able to get it done because our players did so much for this team.”
Choi also gave credit to Jeonbuk veterans for making sacrifices for the club.