"The opponent hit us, and it just went in."
FC Seoul suffered a 1-3 defeat against Jeju United in the 17th round of the Hana Bank K League 1 2025, held on the 31st at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. With this defeat, Seoul's recent unbeaten streak of three matches (1-0 win against Daegu, 1-1 draw against Suwon FC, 1-0 win against Gimcheon) was broken, leaving them with 22 points (5 wins, 7 draws, 5 losses). In contrast, Jeju ramped up their pursuit with 19 points (5 wins, 4 draws, 8 losses).
From Seoul's perspective, all the inherent problems surfaced in this match. Struggling with their worst goal-scoring drought of the season, Seoul had also faced offensive challenges during their previous three-match unbeaten streak. On this day, they suffered a complete defeat even against the struggling Jeju, who had conceded 21 goals in 16 matches.
The flow of the game was characterized by Seoul taking the initiative while Jeju countered. As Seoul launched attacks with a two-top front, Jeju responded with Nam Ta-hee running wide in a free role. Both teams seemed unable to create significant goal-scoring opportunities, perhaps due to their relatively stagnant offense recently.
Seoul fell behind 0-3, starting with a goal conceded to Yu In-su in the 23rd minute of the first half, followed by an additional goal from Lee Chang-min in the 50th minute and a sealing goal from Yu In-su in the 67th minute. Though Seoul's Yazan scored a consolation goal in the 70th minute, they were unable to score further and tasted defeat at home once again, losing 1-3.
Head Coach Kim Gi-dong said, "I don’t have much to say. I’m just sorry to the home fans. I will do my best to reorganize the team during the break to make a comeback."
Regarding the three goals conceded, Coach Kim Gi-dong sighed, saying, "The opponent hit us, and it just went in. I think taking a break might improve things."
Following the previous match, there were more disappointing moments for Seoul's goalkeeper, Kang Hyun-moo, in this game. Coach Kim Gi-dong assessed, "Kang's disappointing moments were understandable. Instead of criticizing, I will talk and share slowly."
Seoul has not won at home in their last five games. Coach Kim Gi-dong expressed, "I apologize to the home fans. Since the victory against Anyang FC, we have particularly struggled at home. I want to show a better performance at home, but it is quite disappointing that it doesn’t go well. I will work to improve moving forward."
Coach Kim Gi-dong laid out the goal for the break: "After the A-match period, we have a match right away, so players like Yazan need to return and play immediately. Out of the 17 matches, there are about two matches where our performance was not good, but strangely, we have struggled to score. We will continue to train and work hard, but we need to manage the pressure regarding chances."
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