Jeonbuk Hyundai wins 2-0 over Pohang Steelers
Sept 15, 2026
Matheus P. Oliveira
On July 25th, 2026, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors played against Pohang Steelers at Pohang Steel Yard Stadium in a crucial match. With only a few points separating second place from seventh in the league table, every point mattered. A win for Jeonbuk would move them up to second place and push Pohang down to around sixth or seventh place, while a defeat for either side could see them drop several places due to how tightly contested the standings were.
The first half started out with Jeonbuk mostly dominating the game. They were leading in ball possession, and they had equal amounts of shots as Pohang did. Around the 13th minute of the first half, Jeonbuk’s left winger Seung-Woo Lee delivered a cross into the penalty area, and Jeonbuk’s right winger Dong-jun Lee attempted to shoot the ball midair; however, Pohang’s goalkeeper In-jae Hwang was quick enough to stop him from scoring. Although Hwang prevented the ball from crossing the line, the rebound fell to Jeonbuk’s striker Gytis, who headed the ball to the net to give Jeonbuk the lead. Although the goal was a bit clear, the referee noticed that one of Jeonbuk's midfielders, Oberdan, had made contact with the ball after Gytis’s header while he was offside. After a quick VAR review, the referee confirmed that the play was offside and the goal was disallowed, and the game went back to being 0-0. The first half continued with both teams both equally dominating the game.
Right before halftime, in the 43rd minute, Jeonbuk launched a counterattack. Jeonbuk’s left winger Seung-Woo Lee was playing against two other Pohang defenders, and while they were distracted, Jeonbuk’s striker Gytis took advantage and ran to the other side, where there were no defenders. Gytis received the ball, and before the defenders could reach him, it was already too late; he had already scored the goal, making it 1-0 for Jeonbuk just before halftime. In the second half, most of the game was controlled by Pohang. Although they had 14 shots, they were very unlucky because they didn't score any of them. In the additional minutes of the second half, Jeonbuk launched another dangerous counterattack. One of Jeonbuk’s strikers, Mota, who was subbed on, made a long cross from his own penalty area to the other side’s penalty area while almost every Pohang player was in Jeonbuk’s half.
While the ball was in the air, one of Jeonbuk’s defenders Young-Bin Kim made a long run to receive the ball. Although the keeper was on his way, he couldn't catch the ball with his hands because he was outside the penalty area, and if he did so, he would be sent off the game. The keeper tried to kick the ball away, but it didn't work, and Jeonbuk’s defender took advantage to head the ball into the goal, making it 2-0 for Jeonbuk in the final minutes. The referee blew the final whistle shortly after the goal was scored, giving Jeonbuk a 2-0 win and 3 points to move back into 2nd place.
Overall, Jeonbuk earned an important 2–0 win against Pohang Steelers and moved back into second place in the league table. Even though their first goal was disallowed by VAR, Jeonbuk did not lose their focus and continued fighting until they scored. Jeonbuk’s new striker Gytis was one of the important players in this match, scoring one goal and having another goal disallowed for offside. Jeonbuk’s defense also played well by stopping Pohang from scoring even though they had many chances in the second half. Their next match will be against league leaders FC Seoul, where Jeonbuk will try to get another important result.
