The visiting team had a player sent off, while the home team's manager was ejected — "We must accept the referee's decision" – "We did protest, though..." [Suwon]

*This content was translated by AI.

In this head-to-head clash, both teams saw players sent off in a fierce battle. One team had an attacker on the field receive a direct red card, while the other team's manager standing by the bench was shown a red card.

Suwon FC and Cheonan City drew 1-1 in the Hana Bank K League 2 2026 Round 26 match held at Suwon Comprehensive Stadium on the 13th.

Both teams were left in tears that day due to the unfortunate red card incidents.

The first sending-off occurred on the field. In the early second half, with the score tied at 0-0, Cheonan attacker Lee Jun-ho struck Suwon FC's Koo Bon-cheol in the face with his elbow during a challenge for the ball. After conducting an on-field review, the referee showed Lee Jun-ho a direct red card. With Cheonan now down to ten men, they conceded the opening goal to Seo Jae-min in the 31st minute of the second half, but Sarzani equalized in the 37th minute, dramatically restoring balance.

The second sending-off erupted from the bench. Park Geon-ha, Suwon FC's manager, who had received a yellow card for aggressively protesting to the referee and assistant referee at the time of Cheonan's equalizer, violently kicked a water bottle in anger over a late-second-half decision. The referee then showed Park a red card, forcing him to leave the technical area after being ordered off.

The topic of both teams' red card incidents continued to be discussed during the post-match press conference.

Cheonan manager Park Jin-seop, whose team was at a numerical disadvantage due to a player's sending-off, stated: "It was a difficult match. We had prepared for certain scenarios, but we didn't expect the opponent to drop six defenders into defense. Our response was slow, leading to struggles in the first half. We tried to make changes in the second half, but Lee Jun-ho's sending-off became an unexpected variable." He added: "While I believe Lee Jun-ho's sending-off wasn't intentional, we must accept the referee's decision regardless. We will communicate with our players and hold meetings to ensure such incidents never happen again."

Oh Beom-seok, Suwon FC coach who entered the press conference in place of the ejected manager Park Geon-ha, began by saying: "The players executed our game plan well after a week of preparation, but ultimately, we are disappointed with the result."

When asked what explanation he requested from the referee regarding the repeated protests from the bench and Park Geon-ha's subsequent sending-off, Coach Oh Beom-seok briefly replied: "We protested on various grounds. We consider it part of the game," before concluding the press conference.

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*This content was translated by AI.