Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors secured the sixth and final K-League playoff spot on the final day of the season after Suwon Samsung Bluewings claimed victory at Incheon United, clinching overall first spot for themselves and condemning Incheon to a seventh-place finish in the process.
Jeonbuk went up against fellow playoff hopefuls Gyeongnam at the Jeonju World Cup stadium, and goals from Jung Kyung-ho, Kim Hyung-bum and Jusuf Dajic helped them to a 3-1 victory and secured the points they required to be in with a chance.
At the same time, Cha Bum-keun's Suwon side, who were runaway leaders early in the season and had seen a mighty points lead whittled down to nothing, ended Incheon United's playoff hopes as they ran out victors by the same scoreline.
FC Seoul finished the season joint-top with Suwon, but behind on goal difference, as they defeated Pohang 2-1 on the road. Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma made sure of third with a single goal victory at Daegu, and Ulsan rounded off a winning weekend for the top four as they beat Busan I'Park at home by the same scoreline. That match was notable for seeing the K-League's 10,000th goal, however it is a goal the scorer, Busan's Kim Tae-young, will want to forget as it was his own goal that gave the opposition the points.
Attention now shifts to the post-season playoffs, which see fourth placed Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i take on defending champions Pohang Steelers on November 22nd in the first of the games. Third-placed Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma host Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on November 23rd, with the winners squaring off on November 26th for the right to travel to the Seoul World Cup stadium to face FC Seoul on November 29th. The eventual victors will take on Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the two-legged final to determine the 2008 champions. The dates for that are December 3rd and December 7th, with the second leg taking place at the Suwon World Cup stadium.
Sunday November 9th Results
Pohang 1-2 FC Seoul (13,289)
Chunnam 0-0 Jeju (12,940)
Ulsan 1-0 Busan (4,678)
Incheon 1-3 Suwon (18,772)
Jeonbuk 3-1 Gyeongnam (14,217)
Daejeon 0-0 Gwangju (17,175)
Daegu 0-1 Seongnam (9,131)
Final League Table
Pos Team P W D L F A Pts GD 1 Suwon 26 17 3 6 46 24 54 22 2 FC Seoul 26 15 9 2 44 25 54 19 3 Seongnam 26 15 6 5 45 21 51 24 4 Ulsan 26 14 7 5 39 26 49 13 5 Pohang 26 13 5 8 43 34 44 9 6 Jeonbuk 26 11 4 11 39 37 37 2 7 Incheon 26 9 9 8 29 30 36 -1 8 Gyeongnam 26 10 5 11 35 39 35 -4 9 Chunnam 26 8 5 13 26 40 29 -14 10 Jeju 26 7 7 12 23 31 28 -8 11 Daegu 26 8 2 16 46 58 26 -12 12 Busan 26 5 7 14 30 39 22 -9 13 Daejeon 26 3 12 11 18 35 21 -17 14 Gwangju 26 3 7 16 22 46 16 -24
Top Goalscorers
Player Team LeagueGoals Eduardo Francisco da Silva Seongnam 15 Dejan Damjanovic FC Seoul 14 Dzenan Radoncic Incheon 13 Eduardo Goncalves de Oliveira Suwon 12 Lee Keun-ho Daegu 11 Jang Nam-suk Daegu 10 Seo Dong-hyun Suwon 9 Adriano Neves Pereira Chunnam 8 Enio Olivera Junior Daegu 8 Romulo Marques Macedo Jeju 8 Joao Soares Da Mota Neto Seongnam 8 Luis Carlos Fernandes Ulsan 8 Jo Jae-jin Jeonbuk 8 Kim Myung-joong Gwangju 7 Lee Jin-ho Ulsan 7 Stevica Ristic Pohang 7 Jung Jo-guk FC Seoul 6 Antonio Rogerio Silva Oliveira Gyeongnam 6 Shin Young-rok Suwon 6 Denilson Martins Nascimento Pohang 6 Han Dong-won Seongnam 6 Kim Jin-yong Gyeongnam 6 Kim Hyung-bum Jeonbuk 6 Namkung Do Pohang 6 Lee Chung-yong FC Seoul 5 Kim Dong-chan Gyeongnam 5 Jung Sung-hoon Busan 5 Borko Veselinovic Incheon 5 Park Sung-ho Daejeon 5 Seo Sang-min Gyeongnam 5 Almir Lopes de Luna Ulsan 5
