After beating ‘local rival’ Suwon FC and ‘supermatch rival’ FC Seoul in succession, Suwon Samsung’s ‘late wind’ was literally too late, as the team was relegated to the second division for the first time in its history in the league’s final game.
Suwon Samsung drew 0-0 at home against Gangwon FC in the final 38th round of the Hana OneQ K League 1 2023 at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, at 2 p.m. on April 2.
At the same time, Suwon FC drew 1-1 with Jeju United in a match played at the Suwon Sports Complex, finalizing the relegation spots as 10th-ranked Gangwon FC (34 points), 11th-ranked Suwon FC (33 points), and 12th-ranked Suwon Samsung (33 points-last place).
Suwon Samsung (35 goals) finished behind Suwon FC (44 goals) on goal difference, and 12th-place Suwon Samsung will be automatically relegated to the K League 2 next season. It is the first relegation in the club’s 28 seasons of existence.
11th-ranked Suwon FC will play home-and-home promotion playoffs (PO) against second-place Busan I-Park on April 6 and 9, while 10th-ranked Gangwon will play a promotion PO against the winner of the K League PO (Gimpo FC or Gyeongnam FC) on the same day to decide whether to stay in K League 1.
Suwon have had one of the most disastrous seasons in their history.
For starters, they finished last in the 12-team K League 1 with two draws, eight losses, and two points in their opening 10 games.
In the meantime, head coach Lee Byung-geun was fired and acting coach Choi Sung-yong took over.
After earning their first win in the 11th round against Incheon United on May 5, Suwon Samsung looked to rebound with the appointment of Kim Byung-soo, a well-known tactician in the K League, as their new head coach.
However, the team only managed one win (1 draw and 6 losses) in over a month, from the 12th round against Jeonbuk Hyundai on May 10 to the 19th round supermatch against FC Seoul on June 24.
The K League 1 plays 38 regular-season games in a season, but Suwon played half that number, 19, and won just two.
After languishing in the relegation zone for the rest of the season, Suwon finally fired head coach Kim Byung-soo on Sept. 26 and appointed club legend and active player Yeom Ki-hoon as acting head coach.
However, the team continued to struggle in the next four games, losing one, drawing one, and losing two, and even suffered a ‘defeat-like draw’ in the 35th round home match on October 29 after winning 2-1 but conceding an equalizer to Masa in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time. 카지노사이트가이드
At this point, if they lost even the 36th round match against Suwon FC, they would be facing relegation.
However, Suwon Samsung came from behind to win 3-2 against Suwon FC in Round 36 on November 12, despite being outnumbered due to Kazuki’s direct dismissal in the 14th minute.
They followed that up with a 1-0 victory against Seoul in the 37th round ‘Super Match’ on November 25, extending their winning streak to two games.
Both Suwon FC and Seoul were teams that Suwon Samsung had lost three games against prior to that match.
As of Round 37, the standings are Gangwon 10th (33 points) – Suwon FC 11th (32 points) – Suwon Samsung 12th (last place – 32 points).
With Suwon Samsung facing Gangwon in the league’s final match in Round 38 and leading on goal difference (Suwon 35 goals – Gangwon 30 goals), all three teams in the relegation zone could be automatically relegated to the bottom three depending on the outcome of the final match.
The 10th place in K League 1 will play the winner of the K League 2 PO, the 11th place in K League 1 will play the second place in K League 2 for the last chance to stay up, but the 12th place in the bottom will be automatically relegated to K League 2 next season.
Suwon Samsung, who held off Suwon FC-Seoul in a cliffhanger to win two straight games to boost their hopes of staying up, could go to the promotion PO with a win in their final game against Gangwon.
However, if they dropped a point with a draw, Suwon FC would only need to draw with Jeju to virtually guarantee Suwon Samsung’s automatic relegation to the bottom.
However, Suwon Samsung drew 0-0 with Gangwon in the final match and Suwon FC also drew 1-1 with Jeju, leaving Suwon Samsung with the lowest number of points and automatic relegation to the K League 2 next season.
