Once the eight knockout games ended, Korea sports news reported that there were no surprising results. All top clubs advanced in the FA Cup. K League 1 FC Seoul won against K League 2 Hana Citizen on penalty kicks, 4-2.
The three other teams from the top division won against the lower tier teams. Defending FA Cup champions, Suwon Samsung Bluewings won over Jeju United. Also, Busan IPark won against Suwon FC. Lastly, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won in overtime against Jeonnam Dragons.
Aside from the K League 1 vs K League 2 matchups, there were three games between top division clubs. Pohang Steelers defeated Sangju Sangmu, and Seongnam FC won against Daegu FC. Lastly, Gangwon FC won against Gwangju FC.
Top Clubs Advanced to Quarterfinals
Ulsan Hyundai FC, the top team in the first division, won against Gyeongju Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power FC, which was the only club from K3 League. The next phase of the tournament will be on July 29. Also, the draw will be on Tuesday, according to sports betting reports.
In Daejeon, it was the first meeting between FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-soo and Daejeon Hana Citizen coach Hwang Sun-hong. Their last meeting was in November 2015, based on online gambling sources.
In 2016, Choi resigned from FC Seoul to coach a team in China. Hwang took over the position. In 2018, FC Seoul fired Hwang, and Choi returned to coach the team for the second time. It looked like Daejeon was going for an upset when Bruno Baio scored in the first five minutes of the game.
FC Seoul leveled the score with ten minutes remaining with a Park Chu-young header. They won in the shootout after Hwang Jae-hun missed in the fourth round of the penalty shootout. Also, it was Daejeon’s first home loss of the season.
