Son Heung-min finds his sixth goal in 2016

Son Heung-min finds his sixth goal in 2016. December. 30, 2016 07:02. by Jong-Seok Lee wing@donga.com. Son Heung-min, Korean footballer of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., put a pleasant end to the season, finding the net in his last appearance for the year of 2016.

In Round 18 against Southampton, Son netted the third goal for his team in the 40th minute of the latter half, contributing to the eventual and comfortable 4-1 victory for the Hotspurs. The Korean football player collected a long pass from the defense with a single touch by his left foot and dashed into the penalty area to unleash a strong left-footed drive into the goal.

Having scored six goals this season, Son has already surpassed the milestone set by Park Ji-sung, a retired Korean EPL midfielder, and is finding himself only two goals away from tying the record of Ki Sung-yueng (Swansea City) as most prolific Korean player in the English Premier League. Park, who played for Manchester United, found five goals each in the 2006-2007 season and 2010-2011 season, while Ki pulled off eight goals in the 2014-2015 season. As the league is only halfway through (a total 38 games), Son is expected to break Ki’s record with ease as far as he finishes the season without moving to another club. Son’s best scoring performance since his professional debut stands at 12 in the 2012-2013 season when he was playing for Hamburger SV of Bundesliga.

Having found the net for the first time in four games since the latest match with Swansea City, Son had been excluded from the starting lineup for three consecutive games, with his footing in the squad still shaky. In each of the recent three matches that he played in, Son appeared on the pitch after the 25th minute of the second half, including Thursday game where he was substituted in the 29th minute of the latter half. Recently, a British newspaper ran an article on the possibility of Son’s transfer to Paris Saint-Germain of the French Ligue 1.

On the other hand, Son Heung-min was also found to have played the largest number of games this year among all Korean players at home and abroad. According to the Korea Football Association, Son played, including the match against Southampton on Thursday, a total of 57 games in 2016 in the EPL, UEFA Champions League, and national team matches, outperforming second-runner Lee Jae-sung of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC, who appeared in 54 games this year.