Jeju SK hold off Suwon Samsung to begin K League promotion playoffs
Yuri Jonathan of Jeju SK FC takes a penalty against Suwon Samsung Bluewings during the opening leg of the teams' K League promotion-relegation playoff series at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap
Jeju SK FC took a big step toward avoiding relegation to the second division in Korean football Wednesday, as they won the first leg of their key playoff series on the road.
Yuri Jonathan's 67th-minute penalty stood as the winner as Jeju SK defeated Suwon Samsung Bluewings 1-0 to open their K League promotion-relegation playoffs at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, some 30 kilometers south of Seoul.
The return leg of this home-and-away series will be 2 p.m. Sunday at Jeju World Cup Stadium in Seogwipo on the southern island of Jeju.
Jeju SK ended up in these playoffs after finishing in 11th place in the top-flight K League 1. They must win this series to stay in the top division and avoid falling into the K League 2 for the first time since 2020.
Suwon Samsung, four-time K League 1 champions with several other major trophies, were relegated to the K League 2 after the 2023 season. This year, they qualified for the promotion-relegation playoffs by finishing in second place in the K League 2 but now find themselves in a 1-0 hole heading into the away leg Sunday.
There will be no away goals rule in effect. If the aggregate scores are tied after two matches, then the teams will play a 30-minute extra period. If that doesn't solve the deadlock, there will be a penalty shootout.
Suwon Samsung, who led the K League 2 with 76 goals in 39 matches this season, outshot Jeju SK 10-2 on Wednesday but couldn't solve goalkeeper Kim Dong-jun.
Stanislav Iljutcenko tested Kim with a header in the 16th minute, after setting up Kim Ji-hyun for a right-footed shot that went wide right of the target.
In the 41st minute, Iljutcenko sent Bruno Silva off on a counterbreak, but his left-footed shot just missed the net to the right.
Jeju SK did not have a shot on target in the first half, but Yuri Jonathan converted the penalty after Suwon Samsung goalkeeper Kim Min-jun was called for a foul on Yu In-soo after their collision in the box.
Kim Dong-jun stood tall in Jeju's net down the stretch, turning aside Kim Hyun's shot during stoppage time to seal the narrow win.
The other promotion-relegation playoff series is between Suwon FC, who finished 10th in the K League 1, and Bucheon FC 1995, who were third in the K League 2 and won a playoff match to get to this point. Their opening leg is 7 p.m. Thursday in Bucheon, just west of Seoul, followed by the second leg at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Suwon.