By Yoon Chul
Staff Reporter
Ulsan Tigers booked a spot in the semifinals of the K-League playoffs with a 1-0 win over Jeonbuk Motors.
In front of a 13,753 home crowd at Munsu Stadium, Tigers striker Yeom Ki-hoon headed home in the 40th minute to help his team reach the penultimate round clash against the Turkish boss Senol Gunes-led FC Seoul, which finished second in the regular season, at Seoul World Cup Stadium Sunday.
The winner of the match will face league champions Suwon BlueWings in the two-leg championship final.
As Ulsan confirmed at least third place in the K-League standings, it has qualified for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League, in which they finished fourth in 2006.
Jeonbuk, which managed to clinch a playoff berth by winning all final three matches of the season, finished fourth this season after defeating Seongnam Chunma 2-1 in the first round.
Ulsan veteran manager Kim Jung-nam used Korean forwards Lee Jin-ho, Lee Sang-ho and Yeom instead of the anticipated Brazilian trio.
Jeonbuk Motors forward Jo Jae-jin threatened the Tigers' first, hitting the side netting from midfielder Choi Tae-uk's low cross.
Ulsan's counterattacks were also sharp.
Yeom's first free-kick just sailed over the right post, and his second shot was punched away by Jeonbuk goalie Kwoun Sun-tae.
After squandering their first two chances, Ulsan, the 2006 league champions, finally found the net after 40 minutes.
Tigers captain Park Dong-hyuk's cross from near the half-way line was met by Lee Jin-ho whose pass allowed Yeom to score the first goal with his head.
Jeonbuk, who had not beaten Ulsan since October 2006, tried to regain parity, but couldn't smash the Tiger's defense.
``Though we are a little exhausted, we have enough confidence. If my players show the same concentration in the semifinal, we can go to the final,'' Ullsan manager Kim said.
``We drew with FC Seoul twice in the season, but we will try our best to decide the game this time.''