Mallorca's Lee Kang-in scores his first goal of season in 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano

Football

Published: 28 Aug. 2022, 16:24 Updated: 29 Aug. 2022, 14:05

Mallorca's Lee Kang-in scores his first goal of season in 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano

Mallorca's striker Kang-In Lee, right, celebrates after scoring the club's second goal during a match against Rayo Vallecano at Vallecas stadium in Madrid, Spain. [EPA/YONHAP]

Lee Kang-in of Mallorca scored his first goal of the season during a 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano and was named Man of the Match for his performance on Saturday at Vallecas stadium in Madrid, Spain.

On Saturday, Mallorca opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Dani Rodríguez sent the ball over and Vedat Muriqi headed in the ball to score the first goal.

Mallorca was close to scoring another in the 44th minute, when Lee sent a cross over from the left to Muriqi who tried a header but missed narrowly to the right.

Both teams kept quiet for the remaining first half and despite Rayo Vallecano owning 73 percent of the ball, they managed to shoot only five times, just one of which was on target.

Rayo Vallecano's defender Alejandro Catena, left, in action against Mallorca's Lee Kang-in, second from left, during the match against Rayo Vallecano held at Vallecas stadium in Madrid, Spain on Saturday. [EPA/YONHAP]

Then in the 64th minute, the Mallorca goalkeeper sent the ball across the half line that met a Rayo Vallecano defender but dropped in front of Lee.

Lee caught the ball with his right foot, dribbled the ball toward the goal and slotted it in with his left foot.

With neither club able to add anymore, the match ended 2-0, marking Marolla's first win of the season. After Mallorca's opening game of the 2022-23 La Liga season on Aug. 15, they lost their second match of the season against Real Betis 2-1 on Aug. 21. Lee has started in all of the last three matches.

Lee has been in good form lately, making his first assist in his second start of the season against Real Betis in the 56th minute when Muriqi scored the equalizer.

Scoring in his third start of the season looks to be the start of a promising season for the young Korean midfielder.

Toward the end of last season, Lee had found himself relegated to the bench for all but two La Liga games after returning to the squad following his recovery from Covid-19 in January. He appeared as a substitute 13 times in the second half of last season, often not coming on to the pitch until the dying minutes of the game.

Lee's first goal and solid effort comes at a good time for the young midfielder, who is keen to earn a place on the Korean national squad ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup in November.

Lee joined Mallorca on a four-year deal on Aug. 30 last year after Valencia terminated his contract, ending a decade-long career at the club that started when he joined the academy at just 10 years old.

Mallorca will continue their La Liga season with a match against Giron on Saturday.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]