Professional soccer’s K League 2 Jeonnam Dragons rode a multi-goal performance from ‘Young Gun’ Park Tae-yong to defeat title favorite Busan Ice Park and keep their hopes of qualifying for the K League 2 Playoffs (Promotion PO) alive.

Jeonnam defeated Busan 3-0 at home in the 38th round of the Hana OneQ K League 2 2023 at Gwangyang Football Stadium in Jeonnam on Wednesday.

Jeonnam, who moved up to sixth place (53 points), closed the gap to fifth-place Bucheon FC (54 points), which is the threshold for promotion to the PO, to one point.

A loss would have eliminated their chances of advancing to the Promotion PO.

Jeonnam will face Bucheon away in the final 39th round on the 26th.

With a win, Jeonnam will move up to fourth or fifth place and into the promotion PO.

With the loss, Busan, with 69 points, will have to wait for another chance to win the K League 2 title and direct promotion. A win would have clinched the title early.

Second-place Gimcheon Commerce (68 points) drew the previous day, narrowing the gap between the two teams to one point.

Busan will take on Chungbuk Cheongju in their final game at home to try and clinch the title.

Gimcheon will also make a final bid for the title at home against Seoul Eland.

Jeonnam picked up their first win of the season against Busan on Sunday, evening their head-to-head record at one win, one draw, and one loss.

Jeonnam had only drawn two games against Busan since Park Jin-seop took over in June of last year, so it was a refreshing win in the all-important matchup.

Busan, which had been unbeaten in nine games (eight wins and one draw) thanks to its stout defense, was unable to keep Jeonnam’s attackers out of dangerous areas on this day.

With Jeonnam attacking midfielder Valdivia running wild in the Busan camp, the tide naturally turned in Jeonnam’s favor.

Park Tae-yong, a 22-year-old rookie midfielder who joined Jeonnam before the season, scored two goals in quick succession, assisted by Im Chan-ul, to give Jeonnam the win.

Park scored the first goal in the 11th minute, finishing a diagonal cross from the left by Im Chan-ul with a one-timed header. It was Park’s debut goal in the K League.

Five minutes later, he added a second goal after receiving a penetrating pass from Lim Chan-ul, beating one defender and shooting from the front of the goal area.

In the 50th minute, Ji Sang-wook sealed the win for Jeonnam with a right-footed curling shot assisted by Plana. The goal marked his K League debut.

At the Ansan Wah Stadium, visiting FC Anyang earned a 3-2 win over Ansan Greeners thanks to Bruno’s stoppage-time winner.

With their second straight win, Anyang moved into seventh place with 51 points.

Anyang can finish fifth and earn a promotion spot if they beat Cheonan City FC in the final match.

After taking a 2-1 lead through Kim Dong-jin in the 36th minute, Anyang conceded an equalizer to Ansan’s Shin Jae-hyuk in the 49th minute, and it looked like their chances of advancing to the Promotion PO this season would remain slim.

Shin Jae-hyuk, the son of former national team coach Shin Tae-yong, scored his first goal of the season with a dramatic equalizer in the 49th minute.

With seven minutes of second-half stoppage time already expired, Bruno scored an even more thrilling comeback goal for Anyang.

On a throw-in from the left flank, the ball bounced once on the ground and he immediately connected with a right-footed volley to make it 3-2.

Ansan, which suffered its fourth straight defeat, remained at the bottom of the table in 13th place (22 points).

At Cheonan Stadium, 10-man home side Cheonan played out a 0-0 draw with Gimpo FC, who have already clinched a spot in the promotion PO.

Gimpo remained in third place (60 points), while Cheonan remained in 12th place (25 points).

The final round will also determine the winner of the ‘battle to the bottom’ between Cheonan and Ansan.

If Cheonan loses to Anyang in the final round and Ansan wins against Seongnam, the goal difference leader will move up to 12th place, while Cheonan will finish its inaugural season in last place.

Cheonan had a difficult time on the day as Lee Jae-won was sent off in the 14th minute of the first half and the 25th minute of the second half for accumulated cautions.

However, Gimpo, who were outshot 12 to 4, were unable to find the back of the net and the match ended in a draw. 먹튀검증