By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter

Chunnam Dragons stripped FC Seoul of a first-round bye in the K-League playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

On Saturday, the Dragons proved to be even more of a thorn in Turk Senol Gunes' side during the postseason as the sixth-place Dragons eliminated third-ranked Seoul from the playoffs in a 3-2 shootout win at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Chunnam jumped to an early lead on Lee Kyu-ro's goal in the 12th minute, but Jung Jo-gook scored three minutes later to make it 1-1, which was the final score.

Dragons' goalie Yeom Dong-kyon's save and two misses from the home side in the penalty shootout lifted Park Hang-seo's squad to the second round, where they will meet Seongnam Chunma on Wednesday.

The seven-time league winner Chunma, which finished fourth in the regular season, also edged fifth-ranked Jeju United 3-2 in a penalty shootout Sunday in Seongnam after a 1-1 tie.

"Players were confident about defeating FC Seoul before the game,'' Park said.

"They figured out their opponents and were more confident. We will focus on regaining our fitness level for the second round match on Wednesday.''

Chunnam, which played to a 1-1 tie with Seoul on Nov. 1, took command early as Brazilian striker Wesley Barbosa de Morais lofted a right cross outside the box to an on-rushing Lee, 21, who chested the ball inside the area and fired a shot into the lower right corner for a 1-0 lead.

But Seoul answered a few moments later.

Ki Sung-yueng, who will move to Scottish side Celtic after this season, dribbled near the penalty area from the right flank and poked the ball to Jung, who emerged between two defenders and redirected it into the net.

After blowing a few scoring chances in regulation and overtime, they entered a shootout and Chunnam had the last laugh.

Seoul goalkeeper Kim Ho-jun denied the Dragons' first and third kickers, but Seoul went wide of the mark twice and Ki's penalty shot was parried to put an end to Seoul's much-hyped 2009 season.

Seoul stayed atop the league standings for more than two months down the stretch to give it hopes of a treble ― winning the K-League's regular season and cup tournament and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.

However, Seoul fell to Pohang 6-4 on aggregate in the semifinals of the league cup competition in August, and it was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Champions League last month.

In the regular season race, they finished 1-2-1 in the final four matches to drop to third, while eventual winner Jeonbuk Motors had two wins and one loss and Pohang Steelers climbed to second place on a three-game winning streak.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr