Lee Kang-in (Mallorca) scored his 6th goal of the Spanish La Liga season. For the first time since advancing to La Liga, he succeeded in achieving double-digit attack points in one season.
Lee Kang-in scored the opening goal in the 13th minute of the second half in the 2022-2023 La Liga home game against Bilbao on the 2nd. Lee Kang-in, who received a pass from the left side of the goal, shook the net with a non-stop left-footed shot between three defenders. The goalkeeper reached out and tried to block it, but the shot timing was half a beat fast. With his 6th goal in the league this season, Lee Kang-in tried a shot that day and scored a goal.
Lee Kang-in, who scored his first multi-goal in La Liga against Getafe on the 24th of last month, has scored 3 goals in the last 3 games. In particular, Lee Kang-in, who debuted in La Liga wearing a Valencia uniform in the 2018-2019 season, wrote 10 attack points (6 goals and 4 assists). Whoscored.com, a soccer statistics site, gave Lee Kang-in the highest rating of 8.42 among both teams.
Mallorca coach Javier Aguirre also highly praised Lee Kang-in’s recent performance. Coach Aguirre said after the match, “I don’t like praising just one player. He continued, “Exactly, this is my best performance since I took office in April of last year. Out of the 1 year I’ve been with you, this is the best. I am happy to be with Lee Kang-in, who proves his skills in every game.” Aguirre took the helm of Mallorca after Luis Garcia succeeded him in April last year.
La Liga also focused on Lee Kang-in. The official La Liga social media posted several posts with photos of Lee Kang-in’s ceremony after he scored that day. In the post, he drew attention by writing articles such as ‘a great season’ and ‘the shining Korean soccer king’. 메이저놀이터
Lee Kang-in, who was already nominated for La Liga’s ‘April Player’, was also nominated for La Liga’s ‘Midfielder of the Year’ that day. La Liga has released 47 players candidates for the 2022-2023 season’Team of the Year’ on its official website. By position, there are 11 strikers, 18 midfielders, 13 defenders and 5 goalkeepers. Lee Kang-in was included as one of the 18 midfielders along with Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Federico Valverde (above Real Madrid) and Pablo Gavi (Barcelona). This year’s team consists of 3 attackers, 3 midfielders, 4 defenders and 1 goalkeeper. The next 4 players for each position are also added. The final selection is confirmed through fan and player voting, and an expert panel.
Lee Kang-in was replaced on the bench in the 40th minute of the second half when the team was leading 1-0. Home fans gave a standing ovation. However, Mallorca conceded an equalizer from a penalty kick just before the end of the game and drew 1-1. With 41 points, Mallorca remained 12th out of 20 teams.