Will the top scorer come out of the relegation team for the first time in K League 1.
The final match of 38th round of Hana Bank’s K League 1 2024 will take place over two days on Saturday and Sunday. In the three Final A matches to be held on Sunday, competition will unfold over advance to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club competition. In the Final B match to be held on Sunday, Jeonbuk Hyundai and Daegu FC will compete for the 10th and 11th places that will determine the opponent for the promotion and playoffs.
With the winning team, the lowest-ranked team and the promotion and playoff team confirmed, it is the individual title that draws attention. King of Help actually reserved the throne, with Andersson (Suwon FC) leading the second-ranked group Kim Dae-won (Kim Cheon-sang-moo) and Cesinha (Daegu FC) by five points with 13 assists.
The competition to become the top scorer is ongoing. Following Mugosa (Incheon United), who ranks first with 15 goals, are Ilyuchenko (14 goals, FC Seoul), Lee Sang-hun (13 goals, Gangwon FC), Lee Dong-kyung (12 goals, Jeonbuk) and Lee Seung-woo (12 goals), respectively. However, Ilyuchenko was the first one who failed to play in the final match due to accumulated warnings.
According to the rule that players with fewer matches have the same record, Lee must score at least two goals and Lee Dong-kyung and Lee Seung-woo must score three goals to overcome Mugosa. As such, chances are high that Mugosa will win the top spot.
Mugo is on the verge of winning his first top scorer title since joining the K League 1, but his face is rather dim. Incheon lost to Daejeon Hana Citizen in the last round, confirming its demotion to the bottom. It was the first demotion in the club’s history.
There has been no top scorer in the relegation team since 2013, when the promotion system began. If Mugosa becomes the top scorer, he will be the first top scorer born in a relegation team. Knowing this, Mugosa also lamented after the match, saying, “I wanted to stay in the K League 1 and win the top scorer title,” adding, “As long as I was relegated to the second division, the title doesn’t mean much.” He also expressed his sincerity, saying, “I want to change the top scorer title and stay in the K League 1.”
In addition, he could become the top scorer with the fewest goals in a decade. Since Santos, a former member of Suwon Samsung, won the title with 14 goals in 2014, he has scored at least 17 goals. Cho Kyu-sung (Mit Willan) in 2022 and Joo Min-gyu (Ulsan) in last year had the fewest goals in a decade. 토토사이트
The top scorers with the most goals during the same period were Malkong (Cozaelispor) who played for Gyeongnam in 2018 and Junio (Shenzhen) who played for Ulsan in 2020. In particular, Junio showed off his tremendous scoring ability even though the number of games was reduced to 27 due to COVID-19.
Of course, Mugosa has a good record. He will be the first top scorer from Incheon in 14 years since Yoo Byung-soo (Hwaseong FC) in 2010. At the time, Yoo scored 22 goals in 28 matches, becoming the first top scorer as a member of the club. Mugosa can be listed in the club’s history as the second top scorer.
In addition, the team will regain the supremacy that had been handed over to native goaltenders. Since Junio in 2020, Joo has been the top scorer in the K-League 1 as native goaltenders. Joo Min-gyu (2 times) and Cho Kyu-seong (1 time) took the top spot in the rankings, and thus failed to give foreign goaltenders a chance.