Lee Kang-in records assist while Park Ji-soo, Oh Hyun-gyu join starting lineup

Mallorca’s Lee Kang-in picked up his 4th assist of this season, celebrating his 22nd birthday on his own.

On Sunday, Lee joined the starting lineup for a home match against Villarreal CF in the 2022-2023 La Liga. With the two teams in a tie by two to two in the 11th minute of the second half, Lee landed a left-footed corner kick to lead Dani Rodriguez to record a header goal in the middle of the goal area. Lee’s assist on Sunday, recorded as his 4th for this season, was the first attack point since he scored a goal against Valencia CF on Oct. 23. The latest assist was scored five months ago on Sept.11 in a match against Real Madrid. As of now, Lee has two goals and four assists.

Football stats website WhoScored.com reported that Lee made 25 successful passes out of 29 attempted ones, translating into a success rate of 86 percent on Sunday. He had two key passes, five tackles, and one intercept. Winning the match by four to two, Mallorca recorded nine wins, nine losses, and four ties, making its points the same as Villarreal's. However, Mallorca ranked 8th ahead of Villarreal as the former outperforms the latter in head-to-head stats. Mallorca has won all two matches against Villarreal in the league this season.

After the match, Lee met up with his fans waiting to throw a party for his 22nd birthday.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com