Son Heung-min lifts Hamburg SV

Football

Published: 07 Oct. 2012, 19:38

Son Heung-min lifts Hamburg SV

Left, Hamburg’s Son Heung-min celebrates a goal during the German Bundesliga match against Greuther Fuerth in Fuerth, southern Germany, Saturday. Hamburg won 1-0. Right, Swansea City’s Ki Sung-Yueng, is tackled by Reading’s Nicky Shorey during the English Premier League match at Liberty Stadium in Swansea, Wales, Saturday. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. [AP/YONHAP]

Son Heung-min scored the game winner as Hamburg SV beat Greuther Fuerth 1-0 on Saturday, living up to his reputation as Korea’s new lethal striker ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifier against Iran this month.

Park Ji-sung recorded his first assist in a regular season match for Queens Park Rangers against West Bromwich on Saturday, but was short of clinching QPR’s first win as the London side fell 3-2.

Ki Sung-yueng of Swansea City started the match against Reading on Saturday, which ended in a 2-2 draw, while Park Chu-young played for 58 minutes in Celta Vigo’s 2-0 victory over Sevilla in the Spanish La Liga match on Friday.

Son, 20, of Hamburg SV, scored the goal in the 17th minute after a 40-meter run past two defenders. He fired a right-footed shot at the right side of the penalty box that found its way inside the left post.

It was the fourth goal of the season for Son, who last month was picked by German media as a Best Eleven member of the Bundesliga. He was called in by national football coach Choi Kang-hee for Korea’s fourth match of the final World Cup qualifying round against Iran slated for Oct. 17 in Tehran.

With the victory, Hamburg extended its undefeated streak to four. It has won three of the last four matches while drawing the other. Hamburg climbed to eighth while Fuerth remains at the bottom of the table on four points after its fourth straight home defeat.

Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich made it seven wins out of seven league games on Saturday as two goals from Franck Ribery led them to a 2-0 win over a toothless Hoffenheim in an embarrassingly one-sided match.

Having slumped to a shock defeat at BATE Borisov in the Champions League on Tuesday, Bayern barely broke sweat in a tepid encounter at the Allianz Arena.

Dutchman Ibrahim Afellay scored his first goal for Schalke 04 in their 3-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg, who are managed by Schalke’s former coach Felix Magath.

In England, Park, 31, set up midfielder Esteban Granero for a strike during second injury time, as QPR reduced the deficit to 3-2 against West Brom. QPR remain bottom in the 20-team English Premier League after the west London-side failed to record a win in the first seven league matches of the season.

QPR lost 3-2 to Reading during a League Cup match late last month, when Park recorded his first assist for the team since moving from Manchester United in July.

Swansea played Reading on Saturday, where the second-half goals by Michu and Wayne Routledge tied the game for the Wales club. Pavel Pogrebnyak and Noel Hunt scored for Reading in the first half.

Unbeaten Chelsea put its off-field concerns aside to beat Norwich City 4-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and open up a four-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Champions Manchester City climbed into second place after preserving their unbeaten record with a 3-0 home win over previously unbeaten Sunderland, while Everton slipped a place to third after drawing 2-2 at lowly Wigan Athletic.

Arsenal came from behind to beat West Ham United 3-1 and climb to fifth after Frenchman Olivier Giroud scored his first goal since a close season move from Montpellier while Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla struck in the last 13 minutes. Mohamed Diame had put the Hammers ahead with a brilliantly taken angled strike in the 21st minute.

Chelsea top the table with 19 points from seven games.

By Moon Gwang-lip, Reuters [joe@joongang.co.kr]