Pro Football K League 1 Ulsan HD achieved a comeback win over Gangwon FC thanks to Eric's multiple goals and maintained second place.
Ulsan was dragged down by goalkeeper Hwang Byeong-geun's own goal in the 34th round home game of Hana Bank K League 1 2026 held at Ulsan Munsu Soccer Stadium on the 1st, but Eric scored two goals in the second half to win 2-1.
Ulsan, who went undefeated in the last three games (2 wins, 1 draw), accumulated 54 points and maintained second place. They are ahead of 3rd place Daejeon Hana Citizen (50 points) by 4 points.
They escaped two consecutive losses against Gangwon and achieved a balanced record of 2 wins and 2 losses this season.
Gangwon, ranked 5th, recorded 2 draws and 1 loss in the last 3 games, remaining at 48 points.
In the first round match of the Final A (1st to 6th) group, the tight balance collapsed in the 41st minute of the first half.
When Gangwon Kim Dae-won stabbed a pass from the left side of the opponent's midfield into the space behind the defense, Mo Jae-hyeon took over from the left side of the goal area and shot with his left foot. The ball grazed goalkeeper Byeong-geun Hwang's leg and hit the goal post, then hit Hwang Byeong-geun's back and crossed the goal line.
This goal was initially recorded as Mo Jae-hyun's goal, but was later corrected as an own goal.
Hwang Byeong-geun, who played for FC Anyang and wore the Ulsan uniform this summer, played in his first league game since his transfer in place of Cho Hyun-woo, who was absent due to his wife's childbirth.
At the start of the second half, Ulsan removed Lee Gyu-seong and brought in leading scorer Yago (16 goals).
Hee-gyun Lee was replaced by Eric in the 11th minute of the second half, and Yong-woo Park was replaced by Boyanic in the 22nd minute of the second half to make amends.
Finally, in the 25th minute of the second half, Cho Hyun-taek's cross from the left grazed the head of a Gangwon defender and fell in front of the goal, so Eric finished with a left-footed shot to tie the game.
Afterwards, Gangwon-do's Lee Seung-won, Lee Eun-ho, Kim Kun-hee, and even Abudallah were brought in as replacements, aiming for an additional goal.
However, in the 40th minute of the second half, Ulsan succeeded in turning the tide when Eric kicked the ball with his right foot from the front inside the penalty area after Cho Hyun-taek intercepted the ball near the center circle and dribbled.
At the Seoul World Cup Stadium, Incheon United, which joined Final A in 6th place, won a thrilling 1-0 victory with Gerso's winning goal in extra time in the second half against the home team FC Seoul (67 points), which had already secured its first championship in 10 years.
Incheon, which recently recorded two consecutive wins and undefeated in six games (3 wins, 3 draws), jumped up to 4th place, one goal ahead of Jeonbuk Hyundai, whose points were equalized at 49.
Klimala, who has 16 goals alongside Ulsan Yago, hit the net in the 39th minute of the first half and appeared to be the sole leading scorer, giving Seoul the lead. However, the goal was canceled due to Cho Young-wook's offside.
In the extra time of the first half, a shocking scene occurred when Seoul goalkeeper Koo Seong-yoon blocked Incheon goalkeeper Lee Tae-hee's free kick.
As soon as the second half started, Incheon also hit the net with Seo Jae-man's right-footed shot following Lee Myung-joo's free kick, but the score was canceled due to offside.
In the 8th minute of the second half, Seoul Park Soo-il's shot hit the goalpost.
The game was decided in the 51st minute of the second half during extra time.
Lee Min-hyuk passed the ball forward at once from the left side of his own penalty area to Gerso, who drove it into the left side of the penalty area and scored two left-footed shots into the goal, giving Incheon the joy of victory.
FC Anyang, competing in the Final B (7th to 12th) group, invited Bucheon FC into their home room and won 2-1.
Anyang, which continued its upward trend of being undefeated in the last 6 games (3 wins, 3 draws), maintained 8th place with 46 points, trailing 7th place Jeju SK by one point.
Bucheon, ranked 11th, is guaranteed to remain in the 1st division with only 1 point added, and has remained stagnant at 32 points with 10 wins (2 draws, 8 losses), including the last 5 consecutive losses.
Bucheon overcame the crisis in the 35th minute of the first half when Anyang Kim Woon's header hit the goal post, and then roared first with Park Jeong-in's first goal in the 39th minute of the first half.
Basani's pass was taken by Kim Seung-bin, who dug to the right inside the penalty area and fired a right-footed shot. Anyang goalkeeper Kim Jeong-hoon made a save and the ball went toward the goal, so Park Jeong-in kicked it with his right foot.
Anyang tied the game in the 10th minute of the second half when Matheus' shot was blocked by the goalkeeper and hit defender Hong Seong-wook, who was rushing toward the goal, resulting in an own goal.
Then, in the 44th minute of the second half, Kwon Kyung-won's header goal following Matheus' corner kick completed the dramatic comeback.
Jeju was unable to decide the game with 1-1 in the away game against the 9th place Pohang Steelers.
Jeju, which has continued its recent 4 consecutive games without a win (1 draw, 3 losses), has 47 points, and Pohang, which has also gone 4 games without a win (3 draws, 1 loss), has 43 points.
When Pohang fell to Final B for the first time in 5 years since 2021, they parted ways with coach Tae-ha Park and played their first game today under the acting head coach system of head coach Seong-jae Kim.
Jeju took the lead in the 31st minute of the first half when Negeba drove the ball from the left side of the opponent's half to the front of the penalty arc and opened the Pohang goal with a right-footed mid-range shot.
The referee even reviewed the video to determine whether Jeju Park Chang-jun, who was in an offside position, interfered with the goalkeeper's defense, but the original decision was maintained.
Pohang was hit hard by bad news as their main striker, Giorgi, was injured while fighting for an aerial ball with Jeju defender Tobias and was replaced by Transisca in the 42nd minute of the first half.
However, Pohang ended the first half with Wandelsson kicking a penalty kick obtained due to a foul by Tobias with his left foot in extra time in the first half, tying the game to zero.
Both teams failed to hunt for additional goals in the second half and had to be satisfied with sharing one point each.
