Ilyuchenko shrugged off the fact that his strike partner Jesse Lingard missed a penalty that he could have taken.

Seoul defeated Suwon FC 1-0 at home in the 32nd round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2024 at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sept. 29.

Ilyuchenko and Lingard, who have been in fantastic form for Seoul as of late, shared the final goal. Lingard’s corner kick was headed home by Ilyuchenko in the 21st minute of the second half.

With his 14th goal of the league, Ilyuchenko moved into a tie with Mugosa (Incheon) for the league lead in goals scored.

In the final minute of the match, Ilyuchenko had a chance to jump into sole possession.

After receiving a pass from Lingard, Ilyuchenko was fouled by Suwon FC’s Kim Tae-han inside the penalty area and was awarded a penalty kick.

However, Ilyuchenko didn’t step up to take the kick. He took the ball and gave it to Lingard, who stepped up to the penalty spot.

Lingard’s shot was ridiculously wide of the target. He put too much pressure on his foot.

Ilyuchenko, who entered the post-match press conference as the honored player, never faltered when asked by reporters how he felt about Lingard’s miss.

“I wanted to take the penalty,” he said, ”but Jesse wanted to take it too. Jesse has scored from the penalty spot before, but this time he didn’t,” he said.

“Before he took the shot, I was thinking, ‘I hope he scores. It’s easier to win when it’s 2-0. I saw the disappointment on his face right after he missed. There was still time left, so I knew I had to defend hard,” said the defender.

“It was like, ‘A mountain is a mountain, and water is water.

For a striker whose virtue is “greed,” and a striker who is in contention for the top scorer’s award, Ilyuchenko only smiles when asked about his goal-hunger.

“Lingard was injured, and I needed time to show my best in the beginning, but gradually we got better as we worked together in attack every game. I want to show the best possible performance with Lingard in the remaining six games,” he said.

Earlier in the press conference, Seoul head coach Kim Ki-dong commented on Ilyuchenko’s penalty concession to Lingard, saying, “I feel like Ilyuc is all Korean.”

When asked to name his favorite Korean food, Ilyuchenko, who is playing his sixth season in Korea, said, “I have so many favorites, it’s hard to choose just one,” but added, “Miso stew is probably the best. It’s delicious and healthy. Not only me, but all my family members love Korean food,” she laughed.

After a sluggish start to the season, Seoul rebounded nicely with a five-game winning streak in the middle of the season. After that, they went winless in three games (two draws and one loss), but the victory turned things around.

Seoul has already secured its ‘primary goal’ of reaching the Final A for the first time in five years.

The next goal is to punch their ticket to the Asian Club Championship. Winning the title is not out of the question.

“We are eight points behind (leaders Ulsan HD), but in soccer everything is possible,” says Ilyuchenko. “I wouldn’t say that winning the title is the goal, but I think it’s still possible, and we have nothing to lose because we’ve already achieved the first goal,” he said, adding that he is determined to ”finish at least in the top four (to qualify for the Asian Club Championship).

After the press conference, Ilyuchenko left the press conference with an encouraging “Good job!” in Korean, just like the Korean players. 메이저사이트