South Korea's K-League begin to restart behind closed doors as Jeonbuk Motors beat Suwon Bluewings 1-0

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Over 50,000 fans tuned into watch Jeonbuk Motors defeat Suwon Bluewings 1-0 in the South Korean K-League.

Supporters jumped at the chance to watch some live action for the first time since football was suspended in March - and after 83 minutes they finally saw a goal!

The 41-year-old Lee Dong-gook scored what turned out to be the winning goal with a fine header from a corner. But there was an eerie silence as the final whistle was blown.

The Bluewings were reduced to 10 men after Australian Terry Antonis caught on Jun-ho with a dangerous studs-up sliding challenge with 15 minutes remaining.

While there may be no fans in the stands, artificial crowd noise was piped into the stadium during game before briefly being switched off and back on following the final whistle.

Supporters made the most of their first chance to watch live football with 20,000 people watching on the BBC website, 20,000 on YouTube and 10,000 on Twitter. Some are even hosting Zoom parties with friends to watch the game.

One person tweeted: 'Good to watch some live football, but HT 0-0. Jeonbuk controlling most of the possession and Suwon remind of of Tony Pulis's Stoke side, scrappy game but that's to be expected due to lack of match sharpness.'

Another joked they were just happy to see the fourth official's board again.

As well as there being no crowd, other safety measures were in place including the banning of handshakes, restrictions on players talking to team-mates, opponents and officials, and coaches and substitutes having to wear face masks.

'Excessive spitting or blowing of the nose is prohibited and players should refrain from close conversations,' said said K-League communication officer Woo Cheoung-sik.

'During the game, players who habitually spit or talk closely will be warned.'

Jeonbuk are managed by former Chelsea assistant Jose Morais and have been champions for the last three seasons.

They also have former Cardiff and Wigan winger Kim Bo-kyung and former Middlesbrough striker Lee Dong-gook in their ranks. Lee is 41 but still managing to put in impressive performances.

The Bluewings have not won the title since 2008 and have former Fulham and Dundee United man Adam Taggart in their squad.

The game was played at the Jeonju stadium, which hosted three games at the 2002 World Cup.

The Bundesliga is set to follow in South Korea's footsteps when it becomes the first European league to return to action when games resume behind closed doors on May 16.









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