The K League 1 Wrap-Up: Pohang Steelers' Steady Form Continues, Gimcheon Sangmu Win Big, and Jeonbuk Edge Closer to First-Place | OneFootball

As the 2025 K League 1 season rolls on, so too do the wrap-ups, with columnist Nathan Sartain returning to recap all of round 13's action.

What Constitutes Success For Pohang Steelers in 2025?

In 2025, Pohang Steelers have had something of a decent, yet unremarkable, first portion of the season. They started the year with consecutive defeats, then went on a tidy six-game unbeaten run (three wins, three draws), before settling into mid-table form. At the Steelyard, Pohang are a reasonable force, averaging 1.86 points per game when on their home turf. But in away games, the Steelers demonstrate some inconsistencies, averaging one point per game, and winning just once (a 3-2 against fellow Final A contenders Gwangju FC in round four).

On paper, this then looks like the groundwork for a relatively comfortable mid-table campaign, where the home form provides solid groundwork, and patchy away results mean you can never quite reach that upper-echelon. However, would that necessarily constitute success for Pohang? In the last two years, the club have won the Korea Cup, punching their ticket to continental competition - though in 2023 they would have qualified anyway by virtue of finishing second - and achieving a tangible reflection of a decent year in the process. Even so, you can’t necessarily expect a three-peat, which indicates any thoughts that a domestic cuphas to be secured again could fall into the category of harsh expectation.

Moving on, last year, you could healthily argue that Pohang were in a transition period, so their dwindling league form in the second-half of the season which ultimately meant they finished sixth was understandable. Plus, some of the pressure that came alongside that lull was offset by the winning of a trophy. Now, ideally you’d like to see some league progress in 2025, especially given that in the last seven years, the Steelers have only finished outside of the top four on two occasions. Yes, games like Saturday’s comfortable 2-0 win over Suwon FC continue to show that this is a team unlikely to be pulled into any danger towards the bottom of the table, in addition to the fact that Final A could well be on the agenda come the end of round 33, but they will need to start doing the business more frequently away from home to push for greater rewards.

With FC Anyang, Daejeon Hana Citizen and Gimcheon Sangmu all coming up on Pohang’s travels, what better place to start, and show that success this year would be finding that extra balance in form that could push the team back into AFC Champions League Elite contention?

Daegu FC's Nearly Day

While Daegu FC have already managed to move back above Suwon FC and in turn off the bottom, Saturday’s 2-2 draw with FC Anyang could have actually bore more fruit. The game started promisingly enough, with early shots on target followed-up by Caio Marcelo’s third goal of the season putting the Sky Blues in front, and for most of the first-half a position of real comfort amidst some overall scrappy phases of play. All that was missing was a second opening, one which could have allowed Daegu to fully sit in their structure and see proceedings out.

Because that didn’t come, and generally the balance shifted towards the home side, in the second period Anyang capitalised. Unsurprisingly, it was Bruno Mota who got the equaliser, his calm finish near the penalty spot a composed end to a direct attack, and the Brazilian’s sixth goal in 2025. From here, neither team gained enough of a foothold to secure a firm upper-hand, until Edgar’s header appeared to win it for Daegu right near the end. Nevertheless, just a few minutes later Edgar’s head would prove a difference-maker for Anyang instead, levelling proceedings in stoppage-time through an unfortunate own-goal. Whether this is one point gained or two points dropped for the Sky Blues is hard to say, for as disappointing as surrendering two separate leads is, Anyang just looked that bit more settled, and particularly as the game progressed more likely to show a clinical edge.

Regarding the other teams currently in the bottom three, Suwon FC were comfortably beaten 2-0 away at Pohang Steelers on Saturday, with Lee Ho-jae’s brace enough to wrap-up the three points without much fuss. In terms of highlights, the 24-year-old striker’s second of the day was a fantastic goal, andwell worth a watch. Elsewhere, Jeju SK slipped to a fourth successive defeat when up against Ulsan HD, the Tangerines’ missed penalty in the 99th-minute enough for the Horangi to retain their tight 2-1 lead at the final whistle. Positively, this was an improved performance from Kim Hak-beom’s men, and enough was shown to make you think there’s still plenty of chance for survival as the season progresses.

Daejeon Hana Citizen Get Pegged Back

Jumping to the title race, league leaders Daejeon Hana Citizen held FC Seoul to a 0-0 draw on Saturday. Truthfully, it wasn’t the Purples’ cleanest performance - for starters, they only managed one attempt on goal compared to Seoul’s 21 - with momentum feeling stop-start, and real noteworthy action limited. Earning a point here is unlikely to be celebrated, of course, but it’s a good sign going forward for Daejeon that they can be far from their best and still pick up results, and in this case extend an unbeaten run to six matches. From a Seoul perspective, however, they need to start converting their opportunities, as they are now seven games without victory, and have scored just once in their last four outings.

What the above presented was an opportunity for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to gain an upper-hand in the recent form table, and cut Daejeon's lead to three points by the end of Sunday. And, in a battling 1-0 victory over Gwangju FC, the Green Warriors did just that. Reliably as ever, Jeon Jin-woo scored the winner, but impressive again was the defensive resilience of Gus Poyet's men as they dug deep when under sustained pressure for their fourth clean-sheet of the campaign. Given Jeonbuk's next three opponents are all bottom-half teams, this is a really chance for them to mount a real threat to Daejeon in the coming weeks.

Just bubbling under the title race, Gimcheon Sangmu also reminded everyone of their strengths this weekend, with a triumphant 4-0 thrashing of Gangwon FC. The military side were fantastic, playing with an unmatched intensity and relentless energy throughout the game as they pelted the Bears' box, and in broad terms created enough high quality opportunities to have perhaps won by a larger margin. They'll hope to be bringing more of the same standard to their upcoming fixtures, and keep themselves within reach of a potential push for first-place.

That's it for this week. After some midweek Korea Cup action, K League 1 football returns next weekend, with everything to play for.