Pohang Steelers claim pro football title with thrilling win in season finale

Pohang Steelers captured the South Korean professional football championship with a nail-biting victory in the season finale on Sunday.

Pohang defeated Ulsan Hyundai 1-0 with a last-second goal by Kim Won-il on the road at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, about 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to take the 2013 K League Classic title.

With the riveting victory, Pohang ended the season with 74 points, one ahead of Ulsan, for their first K League championship since 2007.

Ulsan entered the match in first place with 73 points, two ahead of Pohang. This was the first-ever matchup between the top two-ranked clubs in the season finale with the league championship on the line.

Ulsan only needed a draw to win the title but couldn't quite hold off ferocious Pohang in injury time, losing only for the second time at home this season in 19 matches.

Following a scoreless first half, Pohang were all over Ulsan in the second half. Just as the match seemed headed for an inevitable draw and the championship for Ulsan, Pohang earned a free kick from outside the box with the clock ticking.

Ulsan goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu made a desperate save on the initial shot, but in the mad scramble that ensued near the net, an attempted shot went off a hand of an Ulsan player before Kim Won-il banged home the loose ball.

Ulsan had been in the driver's seat for the championship for most of November, winning six consecutive matches at one point.

However, Ulsan blew an early lead and lost to the sixth-ranked Busan IPark 2-1 last Wednesday, while Pohang defeated FC Seoul 3-1 for their fifth straight win, moving within two points of Ulsan in the standings.

The teams' mixed fortunes set up the stage for the gripping drama on Sunday.

Ulsan played the finale without their two leading scorers, Kim Shin-wook and Rafinha. Both picked up their second yellow in as many games in the previous match and were automatically suspended for Sunday.

The victory on Sunday capped off an impressive run that Pohang put together without services of foreign players. Where most clubs rely on their imported players to carry their offense or shore up their defense, Pohang's all-Korean team won the FA Cup earlier this season and added the K League Classic trophy to the mantelpiece.

Pohang is the first club to win both the FA Cup and the league championship in the same year.

Elsewhere in the K League Classic on Sunday, FC Seoul striker Dejan Damjanovic ended the season as the top scorer with his 19th goal of the season, becoming the first player in the league history to win three straight scoring titles.

The Montenegrin player scored the team's only goal in the 1-1 draw against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on the road in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul.

Damjanovic and Ulsan's Kim Shin-wook both finished with 19 goals, but Damjanovic was declared the scoring champ because he played fewer games than Kim. Damjanovic appeared in 29 games, compared to Kim's 36.

Damjanovic had only 10 goals through October but netted eight goals in five November contests and snatched the title away from Kim with a goal in the finale. (Yonhap News)