Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors secured top spot at the end of the regular K-League season, and with it a guaranteed berth in the Championship playoff final, as they ran out 4-2 home winners over Gyeongnam in the final round of league fixtures on Sunday.
Motors began the day two points clear of nearest rivals FC Seoul, but faced a Gyeongnam side still harbouring hopes of claiming a championship playoff spot. Choi Tae-wook put the home side ahead in the 13th minute and then a brace from the season's top goalscorer Lee Dong-guk sent them in 3-0 up at the break. Gyeongnam staged a comeback early in the second half as a double from Kim Dong-chan gave them hope of picking up the points they needed, but a Brasilia strike eleven minutes from time wrapped up the scoring and secured Jeonbuk's first ever top place league finish.
Pohang Steelers edged FC Seoul to second spot on goal difference as a ninth minute Hwang Jin-sung goal was enough to condemn outgoing champions Suwon to their twelfth defeat of the season and a worst ever league finish of tenth. Seoul looked to be on course for second through Dejan Damjanovic's 77th minute strike, but Jung Yoon-sung hit back for Chunnam in the final minute to give Park Hang-seo's side a share of the spoils and sixth place in the table.
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma got back to winning ways after last weekend's reverse to Gyeongnam with a 3-0 win over bottom club Daegu, and Incheon United made sure of their playoff spot with a 1-0 win over Busan.
Sunday November 1st Results
Busan I'Park 0 - 1 Incheon United (4,234)
Daejeon Citizen 3 - 1 Gwangju Sangmu (15,261)
FC Seoul 1 - 1 Chunnam Dragons (17,364)
Jeju United 0 - 1 Gangwon FC (2,522)
Jeonbuk FC 4 - 2 Gyeongnam FC (21,516)
Pohang Steelers 1 - 0 Suwon Bluewings (12,164)
Seongnam Ilhwa 3 - 0 Daegu FC (4,355)
Final 2009 K-League Season Standings
| K-League 2009 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Jeonbuk | 28 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 59 | 33 | 26 | 57 |
| 2 | Pohang | 28 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 55 | 33 | 22 | 53 |
| 3 | FC Seoul | 28 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 47 | 27 | 20 | 53 |
| 4 | Seongnam | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 40 | 34 | 6 | 45 |
| 5 | Incheon | 28 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 31 | 29 | 2 | 43 |
| 6 | Chunnam | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 41 | 39 | 2 | 42 |
| 7 | Gyeongnam | 28 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 38 | 32 | 6 | 40 |
| 8 | Ulsan | 28 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 32 | 29 | 3 | 36 |
| 9 | Daejeon | 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 29 | 38 | -9 | 33 |
| 10 | Suwon | 28 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 29 | 32 | -3 | 32 |
| 11 | Gwangju | 28 | 9 | 3 | 16 | 33 | 40 | -7 | 30 |
| 12 | Busan | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 36 | 42 | -6 | 29 |
| 13 | Gangwon | 28 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 42 | 57 | -15 | 28 |
| 14 | Jeju | 28 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 44 | -22 | 28 |
| 15 | Daegu | 28 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 20 | 45 | -25 | 23 |
2009 K-League Top Goalscorers
| Player | Team | LeagueGoals |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Dong-guk | Jeonbuk | 20 |
| Dejan Damjanovic | FC Seoul | 14 |
| Kim Young-hu | Gangwon | 13 |
| Kim Dong-chan | Gyeongnam | 12 |
| Adriano Neves Pereira (Shuva) | Chunnam | 12 |
| Yoo Byung-soo | Incheon | 12 |
| Ko Chang-hyun | Daejeon | 10 |
| Choi Sung-guk | Gwangju | 9 |
| Choi Tae-wook | Jeonbuk | 9 |
| Antonio Rogerio Silva (Indio) | Gyeongnam | 9 |
| Kim Myung-joong | Pohang | 9 |
| Mauricio Molina | Seongnam | 8 |
| Luiz Henrique da Silva Alves | Jeonbuk | 8 |
| Park Sung-ho | Daejeon | 8 |
| Denilson Martins Nascimento | Pohang | 8 |
| Stevica Ristic | Pohang | 7 |
| Eduardo Goncalves de Oliveira | Suwon | 7 |
| Jung Sung-hoon | Busan | 7 |
| Yoo Chang-hyun | Pohang | 7 |
| Almir Lopes de Luna | Ulsan | 7 |
| Yoon Joon-ha | Gangwon | 7 |
Championship Playoff Fixtures
A: FC Seoul v Chunnam (Nov 21)
B: Seongnam v Incheon (Nov 22)
C: Winner A v Winner B (Nov 25)
Pohang v Winner C (Nov 29)
The Championship final will take place over two legs, the first game on Wednesday December 2nd and the second on Sunday December 6th. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have home advantage in the second leg.
