At 13:00 Beijing time on March 28, 2022, the sixth round of the Korean K-League ushered in a one-point showdown, with Ulsan Hyundai hosting Pohang Ironman. In the first half, the two teams drew 0-0. In the second half, Ulsan Hyundai's foreign players Leonardo and Lim Jong-yeol each scored a goal to help the home team win 2-0 over Pohang Ironman. Japanese midfielder Jun Amano played well, completing a fantastic assist in the 86th minute.
Currently, Ulsan Hyundai is no. 1 in the league with 13 points and Pohang Ironman is in 4th place with 10 points. Ulsan Hyundai finished second in the K League with 21 wins, 11 draws and 6 losses last season, only 2 points behind the 1st place Jeonbuk Hyundai, regrettably failing to profit from the championship. Pohang Ironman finished third with 46 points in the K League's relegation play-off zone last season with 12 wins, 10 draws and 16 losses.
In the previous 12 meetings between the two teams, Ulsan Hyundai had a slight advantage with 6 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses. Ulsan Hyundai has remained unbeaten in four of the following four encounters since the draw with Pohang Ironman on March 13, 2021, most recently in the 2021 AFC Champions League semi-finals, when Ulsan Hyundai drew 1-1 in regular time and lost 4-5 to Pohang Ironman in a penalty shootout. Therefore, this round of competition is also the revenge battle of Ulsan Hyundai.
Although the difference in the record of the two teams last season is not small, it does not mean that there is a gap in the ability of the players of the two teams, the total value of the starting lineup of Ulsan Hyundai is 5.8 million euros, while the total starting value of pohang Ironman is 5.28 million euros, which should be said that the strength is very close. In fact, the K League is like this, its own strength is quite close to everyone, the key is to see whether the implementation of tactical discipline and will can be higher.
After the start of the game, the speed of the tactical conversion of the two teams is not very fast, mainly concentrated in the midfield side of the competition is very fierce, as of the end of the first half, Ulsan Hyundai has 49% of the possession rate, 4 shots on goal 1 shot on target, while Pohang Ironman only 2 times to hit the goal and 1 shot on target, both teams have a threatening shot, of which Ulsan Hyundai once had a chance to swing past the goalkeeper to hit the empty goal, but unfortunately was blocked by the opposing defender with his head.
In the first half, the two teams ended 0-0. In the second half, Ulsan Hyundai significantly stepped up their attack and increased the number of attackers in midfield, with two full-backs regularly plugging in, causing a lot of trouble for pohang Ironman.
In the 70th minute, Leonardo, a 24-year-old Brazilian foreign player from Ulsan Hyundai, received a pass from Lee Kui-sung in the penalty area and pushed a kick to break the deadlock and help Ulsan Hyundai take a 1-0 lead.
Pohang Ironman, who was one goal behind, immediately stepped up his attack, forming a suppression of Ulsan Hyundai, but with it, it was the rear defense void. In the 86th minute, Ulsan Hyundai went down again, and Japanese midfielder Jun Amano, a 30-year-old, assisted Hayashi Zongyu to score a goal that sealed the win.
In the end, Ulsan Hyundai defeated Pohang Ironman 2-0 at home, avenging the AFC Champions League. The match also set 2 new records. First, Ulsan Hyundai has a record of nine unbeaten games in the K League since November 21, 2021; second, Ulsan Hyundai has gone unbeaten in five regular seasons against Pohang Ironman.