Hwang Hee-chan scores two goals, leading his team to win

Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers scored multiple goals in one game for the first time in the English Premier League (EPL).

The South Korean footballer found the net twice in a home game against Newcastle United in the seventh round of EPL held at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton on Saturday (local time), leading his team to a 2-1 win. With Hwang’s one-man show, Wolverhampton Wanderers had two consecutive wins, stepping up its league ranking to 11th place with three wins and four losses in total. The team has been achieving impressive results after Hwang joined the team with three wins and one loss.

Hwang, who had his first goal in his EPL debut game against Watford in September, has become an important attacker of the team in no time with three goals in four games. In the EPL scoring ranking, he is tied for seventh place with Son Heung-min and Cristiano Ronaldo.

On Saturday, the 25-year-old footballer made three shots on target out of five shootings, completely changing the assessment of his shooting ability. He found the net twice by receiving a pass after getting behind a defense with a fast speed and finding an empty spot. In the 20th minute of the first half, he found an empty spot between two defensive players and received the goal from Raúl Jiménez to kick the ball to the left corner of the goalpost with his right foot. Hwang scored again in the 13th minute of the second half with a score of 1-1 when Jiménez got behind three defensive players and dribbled into the middle by moving from the right side of the goalpost to the left to receive a pass.

　

“The Bull is running like crazy,” said the local commentators regarding Hwang’s outstanding performance from aggressive dribbling to a delicate finish. The EPL named him “King of The Match’” with 64.3 percent of 10,167 survey participants voting for the South Korean. The football statistics website WhoScored.com gave an 8.6 rating to Hwang, which is the highest score among his team members.

“He has adapted to the Premier League. He fits our way of playing because we need a player like him,” said Bruno Lage, the manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers. “I believe the players want to play with the ball. Top players can enjoy our game and he is a top player, like the other guys.” Hwang thanked his South Korean fans for support on social media after the game.

Hwang will join the South Korean national team on Monday for the final preliminary round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.


Jae-Yeong Yoo elegant@donga.com