South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai reached their first ever AFC Champions League final Wednesday after they weathered an early onslaught to beat Bunyodkor 2-0 for a 5-1 aggregate win.
Kim Shin-Wook put the hosts ahead in the 53rd minute before Lee Kuen-Ho sealed the win with a fine effort 16 minutes from time, confirming Ulsan as the fourth South Korean finalists in four years.
Ulsan will host the final on November 10 against the winner of the other semi-final between Saudi Arabian duo Al Ittihad and Al Ahli, which Al Ittihad lead 1-0 following the first leg in Jeddah last Monday.
"I think we performed well in a very important match," said their coach Kim Ho-Gon.
"I stressed before the game that even though we had won the away match, the players should not be careless and the players had the determination to qualify for the final.
"We expected Bunyodkor would play offensively and we tried to counter that with more offensive tactics."
Ulsan had secured a 3-1 advantage over Bunyodkor in the first leg in Tashkent a week ago, and it proved an insurmountable task for the Uzbek champions at Ulsan Stadium.
Bunyodkor, needing to score three times to have any chance of reaching the final for the first time in their short history, pushed for an early goal but goalkeeper Kim Young-Kwang kept them at bay.
He was on hand to twice deny Shavkat Salomov in the opening 18 minutes as Mirdjalal Kasimov's side sought the strike that would give them a fighting chance.
But while their 'keeper played a key role, Ulsan looked the more likely to score as the half wore on, with Kwak Tae-Hwi and Juan Estiven Velez both going close to scoring the goal that would have killed the game.
Eight minutes into the second half, Kim Shin-Wook gave his side the lead when he struck from close range with a right-foot shot that left Bunyodkor goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov with little chance.
And in the 74th minute, Lee Kuen-Ho put the result beyond any doubt with a sumptuous right-footed shot from just inside the area, which arrowed home well out of Nesterov's reach.
"It has been very hard playing in the K-League and in the AFC Champions League especially with the long-distance travelling so I am very grateful to all the players," said Ulsan's coach.
"Our opposition in the final has not been decided yet, but we don't have enough information about either of the clubs in the other semi-final.
"We will analyse our opposition by watching their previous games, but it will be a strong side as they are in the final."
