The Matildas will get a chance to defend their Asian Cup title against Japan, after the Australians beat South Korea 2-1 in the Cup semi-final in Ho Chi Minh City.

Katrina Gorry opened the scoring for the Matildas two minutes after half-time, her driving shot from 20 metres out going high into the top corner.

The scores were levelled six minutes later, after Michelle Hayman gave away a controversial penalty for a challenge on Kim Narae. Park Eun San converted the spot-kick to make it 1-1.

The decisive moment came with 13 minutes left, as Lisa De Vanna drew a foul on the right, and Elise Kellond-Knight swung the ball in, evading all the defenders to go inside the far post to restore the Matildas’ lead.

“We’ve got so many good attacking players and we saw that tonight. We created nine or ten really good chances, we only scored two but I thought we dominated the majority of the game, I thought we dominated the chances and I think we thoroughly deserved the win,” Matildas interim coach Alen Stajcic said.

“We put them (Korea Republic) under so much pressure in midfield that we just didn’t let them play, and that’s how we’re going to play – if teams are going to beat us they’re going to have to beat us with good skill and they’re going to have to be able to play under pressure.

In the other semi-final, the world champions Japan scored in the final minute of extra time to defeat China 2-1.

The final will be the second match between Australia and Japan at the tournament, after the two teams drew 2-2 in the group phase.