To call Jeju United's stay at the top of the K-League Classic table brief may be an understatement. After rising to joint top only three days earlier, the Pohang Steelers handily beat the Orange 3-0 on April 12 in Pohang, knocking them down to sixth.

Pohang pressed Jeju hard from kickoff, forcing keeper Kim Ho-Jun to make a diving save from a long-range effort only 2 minutes in.

Jeju went close on 17 minutes after picking up a Pohang clearance. Droguett collected just outside the box and attempted a through ball to Song Jin-Hyung. It was deflected to the feet of Kim Hyun, who shot into the side-netting.

Pohang's offense began to take over as the half wore on. After a 22nd-minute corner kick reached the edge of the box, the Steelers shot on goal, forcing another sprawling save from Jeju’s Kim to the left of the goal.

Only 2 minutes later, a Kim clearance was tracked down by Pohang in the center. There it was shifted to the left, then centered to an onrushing Kim Jae-Sung, who poked it first time past Jeju's keeper and into the top right corner to give Pohang a 1-0 lead.

On 35 minutes, Kim Jae-Sung would deliver another blow to United. A Pohang ball from the left became muddled at the top of Jeju's box. After some prolonged jousting, the ball squirted loose, and got chipped to Kim, who found himself in space and on goal. He bested Jeju's keeper for the second time in 11 minutes to double Pohang's lead to 2-0 before halftime. Kim's two-goal night put him into a four-way tie for third in league scoring.

Jeju did not fare any better after the restart. On 78 minutes, Pohang streaked down the left wing and after three uninterrupted passes they had skillfully moved the ball to the center. The ball was slipped between two Jeju defenders and to Kim Seung-Dae, who dummied to shoot and rounded Kim Ho-Jun, before calmly depositing it into the goal. It was Kim's fifth of the season, making him the league's top scorer and putting the Steelers up 3-0 with time running out for Jeju to make it interesting.

Jeju could not do better than rattling a shot off Pohang's crossbar after a corner kick on 84 minutes. Without anything else from United to threaten the score, Jeju packed up and headed home, convincingly defeated.

The loss dropped Jeju United to 4-3-1, and from tied for first place to fifth on goal difference, level on points with third-place Ulsan. It also gave Pohang the outright lead for top spot.

Jeju United's next match is at home on April 20, when they face off with last place Incheon United at 4 p.m. from Seogwipo World Cup Stadium. Incheon has yet to win a match this season.

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Dave Cunning is a freelance writer from Kelowna, BC, Canada. Read his blog http://davecunning.wordpress.com, listen to his podcast http://xppsp.podbean.com and follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/davecunning