Ki Sung-yueng`s second-half header secures Swansea a 1-1 draw

Ki Sung-yueng (26, Swansea City) served as a starter in a match as soon as he returned to his professional soccer club after serving as a member of the Korean national team. Ki demonstrated by himself why he is an "irreplaceable player" in his team.

In the home, 24th round match of the English Premier League’s 2014-2015 season against Sunderland held at the Liberty Stadium in Wales on Saturday, Ki scored an equalizer with swift diving header at the 21st minute in the second half, when his team was trailing 0-1. It is his fourth goal of the season, which was scored in the fourth match after the game against Hull city on Dec. 21 last year. Ki, who thus saved his team from looming loss, is now tying as a top scorer in his team.

Ki has just one goal shy of the most goal of five scored by a Korean player in a single season of the league, recorded by Korea’s first Premier Leaguer Park Ji-sung at the Manchester United during the 2006-2007 and 2010-2011 seasons. Swansea City, which tied the match 1-1 to maintain the ninth place overall in the league with nine wins, seven draws and eight losses (34 points), has 14 more matches to play. Sky Sports, a local media outlet, handed Ki seven points in grading, the second highest in his team. Kyle Naughton, who gave assist to Ki, received eight points.

A player who returned after participating A matches for an extended period generally spends time in the bench watching the first match, while seeking to recover condition. Swansea manager Garry Monk could not afford to do so. While Ki was away, the team struggled in the mid field section. The team was in a slump, including 0-5 loss against Chelsea in the league, and suffered a humiliating loss to Blackburn, a Championship (minor league) team, in the round of 32 strongest teams of the FA Cup.

In the AFC Asian Cup in Australia, Ki effectively played full-time in six matches, including two matches that involved overtime plays. Manager Monk knew that Ki was physically depleted. Nonetheless, the manager said that Ki Sung-yueng has most constantly displayed good performance in his team this season and upon returning, he would display a better performance, openly indicating that he would start Ki from the first match after return.

After the match, Ki said, “I felt tired after the Asian Cup, but I played the match with determination to spend every ounce of my energy. I regret that our team only earned three points, even though our team was dominating the game.”