Ogura was at fault for the early opening goal, dragging down Hwang on the corner of the area for an obvious penalty. The former F•Marinos midfielder can be thankful that referee Mr. Irmatov didn’t yellow card him, too, although that did not stop him being replaced at half time.

Brazilian forward Bueno slotted home the penalty easily, with just eight minutes on the clock before Hwang doubled the advantage and sealed the points on 68 minutes. Gamba had looked to be getting back into the game when an aimless high ball was flicked on by Kim Tae-Youn to Hwang. The ball was controlled and then the player slipped the ball to the right to beat the challenge of centre back Daiki Niwa and Hwang curled the ball around the keeper with his right foot.

Gamba had seen plenty of possession but, as in last week’s game, could do little with the ball when it mattered. There was a free kick chance before the break which saw Endo beat the wall but the keeper saved easily, and then Hiroyuki Abe and Patric exchanged passes to give Abe the shot but, again, it was easy for the Seongnam keeper.

Patric was denied twice in the closing minutes, as Gamba woke up and gave too little, too late, while late substitute Takashi Usami also showed promise but no end result for the visiting team.

Team – Higashiguchi, Oh, Niwa, Kim, Yonekura (Fujiharu, 70), Endo, Ogura (Myojin, 46), Abe (Usami, 70), Kurata, Lins, Patric

(Picture: World Sport Group)