Incheon United was relegated to the second division for the first time since its founding.
Incheon lost 1-2 in the 37th round home game against Daejeon Hana Citizen of the professional soccer K League 1 held at Incheon Soccer Stadium on the 10th. Incheon was confirmed to be in last place with 8 wins, 12 draws, and 17 losses (36 points), falling to the second division regardless of the last game of the remaining 38 rounds.
Daejeon remained in at least 9th place with 45 points. Jeonbuk Hyundai won 3-1 against Daegu FC on this day and ranked 10th (41 points), while Daegu ranked 11th (40 points). Even if Incheon, the lowest ranked team, wins the final game of the season against Daegu on the 24th, the gap of 4 points cannot be overcome.
The 12th-place team in K-League 1, the last-place team, is immediately relegated to K-League 2, and the 10th and 11th-place teams must compete in a promotion playoff with the second-tier team.
Incheon worked tirelessly throughout the game to avoid relegation. However, goals were conceded to Massa in the 6th minute of the first half and to Anton in the 15th minute of the first half, leading to a 0-2 score. Gerso scored a chasing goal in extra time in the first half, but no more goals were scored in the second half, putting the team on the losing end.
Since making its debut in the K-League in 2004, Incheon has never fallen to the second division and has earned the nickname ‘King of Survival’. But there was no more luck.
In the home game on this day, Jeonbuk completely defeated Daegu, with consecutive goals from Kim Jin-gyu, Kwon Chang-hoon, and Lee Seung-woo in the second half, with Hwang Jae-won making up for a last-minute goal.
Meanwhile, 7th place Jeju United drew 0-0 with 8th place Gwangju FC. Jeju and Gwangju had already decided to remain in Division 1, and maintained their rankings as well.
Senior Reporter Kim Chang-geum kimck@hani.co.kr