Incheon defeated Yokohama Marinos Japan 2-1 in their home game of Group G of the 2023-2024 AFC ACL Group H at Incheon Football Stadium on the 28th. 토토 Ulsan defeated BG Pathum United of Thailand 3-1 in the fifth Group I match at Pathum Thani Stadium to maintain its second place in the group with three wins and two losses.
Incheon, which played on the ACL stage for the first time in 20 years, accumulated 9 points and ranked second in the group with 3 wins and 2 losses. In addition, he won 4-2 against Yokohama in the first Group G match and added a victory on the same day to win two consecutive games against Yokohama.
It is the same point as coach Choi Kang-hee’s No. 1 Shandong Taishan China, but it has already lost two games 0-2 and 1-3 against Shandong. Yokohama, which played in the ACL as a J-League winner last season, fell to third place 9 points, 3 wins and 2 losses behind Incheon.
In this season’s AFC group stage, the top five East Asian groups Groups F to J will be first served in the round of 16, and three of the five teams in the second place in each group will take the round of 16. Incheon, where Mugosa, Gerso, and Mpoku were all excluded from the roster due to injuries and Hernandez was on the replacement list, set up Chun Sung-hoon as the central striker and Kim Bo-seop and Park Seung-ho, born in 2003, as two-wing strikers.
Incheon, which threatened the opponent’s goal with Park Seung-ho’s shot following Kim Bo-seop’s cross from the beginning of the game, took the lead in the 11th minute of the first half when Hong Si-hoo scored the first goal in a counterattack.
Chun Seong-hoon connected the cutback that Kim Bo-seop stabbed from the left side with a left-footed volley, but it was blocked by the goalkeeper, and Hong Si-hoo shook the net by connecting the bounced ball with a right-footed volley in the right penalty area.
Incheon firmly defended the net with a save show, with Kim Dong-heon hitting Yokohama Iuber’s header with his hand in the 7th minute of the first half and blocking Mizunuma Gota’s left-footed shot with his toes in the 36th minute of the first half.
Two minutes later, Yoshio Gaina’s sharp left-footed free kick hit the crossbar and swept his chest away. In the 8th minute of the second half, Incheon’s calculation to score additional points by putting in Hernandez was correct.
In the 22nd minute of the second half, when Kim Bo-seop scored a pass from the right penalty area to the goal, Hernandez tapped his left foot and stabbed him in the corner of the net. Yokohama made up one point with Iuber’s header in the 38th minute of the second half, but Incheon no longer allowed a run. Meanwhile, Yokohama Nam Tae-hee stepped on the ground in the 19th minute of the second half and played until the end of the game.
Ulsan beat BG Fatoum United of Thailand 3-1 in Group I at Pathoum Thani Stadium. Ulsan, the winner of this season’s K League 1, maintained its second place in Group I by accumulating nine points with three wins and two losses. In the other Group I match at the same time, first-place Kawasaki Frontale 15 points in Japan beat third-place Johor Darul Takzim 6 points in Malaysia 5-0.
Ulsan, which won the day, confirmed the second place in the group regardless of the results of the final match. If Ulsan loses in Game 6 against Kawasaki and Johor wins Pathum, Ulsan and Johor will have the same points, but Ulsan will lead Johor in the opponent 3-1, 1-2 losses, goal difference +1.
Therefore, it is expected that Ulsan’s advance to the round of 16 will be determined depending on the performance between the second place in each group. Ulsan took the lead thanks to the opponent’s own goal in the 20th minute of the first half. In the 27th minute of the first half, Rubik’sson scored an additional goal with his left foot to raise the mood. Ulsan, where Lee Myung-jae scored his third goal in the 17th minute of the second half, allowed Fatoum to score a comeback goal seven minutes later, but kept the win.