FC Seoul vs Pohang Steelers Match Recap - Oct 18, 2025

Pohang’s Late Surge Steals Vital Points in Seoul, Jolting K League 1 Top-Four Race

On an evening brimming with tension inside the Seoul World Cup Stadium, the margins separating K League 1’s front-runners grew all the slimmer. Pohang Steelers, battered by recent inconsistencies yet emboldened by a newfound edge, snatched a 2-1 victory from FC Seoul, vaulting three points clear in the razor-thin race for continental qualification.

The script—one familiar to the several thousand in attendance—was dictated not by steely control but by surging, unrelenting moments of will. Seoul, newly returned from a string of draws that had seen their ambitions stall, faced a Pohang side teetering between confidence and desperation after two damaging league defeats.

Yet from the outset, Pohang’s intentions felt unmistakable. With the teams separated by only three points in the standings and a season’s worth of toil on the line, the opening half danced nervously, both sides probing for flaws rather than opening themselves to risk. It was the visitors who blinked first—and then blinked again, this time in exultation. On 29 minutes, Lee Ho-jae, the Steelers’ perennial threat, slipped free of his marker in a crowded six-yard box and steered a glancing header past the outstretched hand of Seoul keeper Baek Jong-beom. The finish marked Lee’s third league goal in as many games, a streak that has grown in stature with each scoring touch.

For Seoul, the opening goal brought an urgency long absent from their recent domestic performances. No side in the league has drawn matches at a higher rate—Seoul’s twelve stalemates speak to a persistent inability to seize the defining moment. That lingering fragility came into focus as Pohang, emboldened by their lead, pressed for a second. Only a sharp reaction save kept the deficit at one as halftime arrived.

Whatever words were exchanged in the Seoul dressing room, they bore fruit. As the second half unfolded, the home side pressed higher and committed bodies forward, their movement increasingly orchestrated by the tireless Cho Young-Wook. It was Cho, ever alert, who brought parity in the 67th minute. Surging onto a cutback from Choi Jun, he whipped a low, curling effort through traffic and beyond Pohang’s goalkeeper. The goal—Cho’s second in as many league games—galvanized the home crowd, whose nervous hum gave way to raucous encouragement. For a brief ten-minute spell, Seoul surged, hoping to exploit a momentary advantage. But a season shaped by missed opportunities would not deliver redemption on this night.

The match’s decisive moment arrived with five minutes left, delivered not by a seasoned name but by Juninho Rocha, the Brazilian winger signed to inject life into Pohang’s attack. Latching onto a through ball on the break, Juninho danced past one defender, steadied himself, and dispatched a clinical finish into the far corner. The net rippled, and with it, the balance of the league’s top-four race shifted. Rocha’s late intervention—his fourth of the campaign—was both a personal triumph and a statement of intent from a Pohang side that had come under scrutiny after their most recent home defeat.

There would be no dramatic twist in stoppage time. Seoul, for all their pressure, found the door barred. Pohang’s back line held, marshaled ably by Jeong Tae-wook, and when the final whistle sounded, it was the traveling supporters who poured their voices into the night air.

This latest twist underpins a growing tension atop the K League 1 standings. Pohang, who now sit on 48 points after 32 matches (14 wins, 6 draws, 12 losses), have carved out a fragile advantage over Seoul, who remain on 45 points with a nearly symmetrical record (11 wins, 12 draws, 9 losses). The result dents Seoul’s hopes of a top-three finish and the coveted Champions League qualification it brings. Their trend of alternating draws and wins—a pattern unbroken by a single defeat in their last five—has left them vulnerable to rivals with a keener edge for the dramatic.

History between these sides is littered with late drama and narrow margins, and tonight’s contest was no different. In recent meetings, neither side has managed to seize definitive control, with the weight of expectation perhaps stifling the free flow of football that both are capable of. Notably, there were no red cards on the night, though the chippy midfield battle produced a handful of cautions, underscoring the high stakes permeating every challenge.

Looking ahead, Seoul’s task sharpens uncomfortably. With only a handful of matches remaining, they must rediscover the killer instinct that fueled their 3-0 dismantling of Buriram United in the AFC Champions League. The burden will rest on the likes of Cho Young-Wook and Marko Dugandžić to transform industry into end product. Pohang, meanwhile, will savor a rare away triumph and the psychological edge it brings, knowing that their destiny—once drifting—now sits squarely in their own hands.

As the league’s spring campaign draws to a close and the shadows lengthen on the capital’s pitch, both sides are reminded: in K League 1, it is not enough to simply avoid defeat. In matches of consequence, only victory moves the heart, the table, and the season’s narrative onward.