Lee Jae-sung opens scoring for Mainz in 5-2 win over VfL Bochum

Lee Jae-sung, left, celebrates after scoring a goal in a Bundesliga game against VfL Bochum on Saturday in an image posted on Mainz 05's official Twitter account. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

For the second time in as many games, Lee Jae-sung scored before the fans had even found their seats as Mainz thrashed VfL Bochum 5-2 in a Bundesliga game on Saturday.

It was the Korean midfielder’s fourth goal in the 2022-23 Bundesliga season and second in a row after he scored against Borussia Dortmund last Wednesday.

Lee started the game as a central midfielder against Bochum at Mewa Arena in Mainz and found a chance to score an early goal with a cross from teammate Karim Onisiwo.

He was not able to put the ball into the back of the net as Bochum’s goalkeeper Manuel Riemann cleared the cross, but Anthony Caci, who was running from the back, quickly passed the ball back to Lee to finish the job within the first minute of play.

Mainz were able to extend their lead even further as Silvan Widmer and Onisiwo scored in the 17th and 28th minutes of the game, ultimately ending the first half with a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Onisiwo did not back down in the second half either as he scored his second goal of the game in the 57th minute.

The game looked completely one-sided, but Bochum still continued to try to score. They managed to get on the scoreboard with two goals in quick succession from Pierre Kunde and Erhan Masovic in the 70th and 72nd minute.

That was not enough to turn things around though, as Onisiwo scored another in the 87th minute to complete his hat-trick.

The match eventually ended 5-2. It was a crucial win for Mainz in their third game back after the Bundesliga's long winter break. The club last won a league game on Oct. 21 last year against Cologne, before losing three and drawing one before the break and drawing one and losing one after it.

The hat-trick recorder Onisiwo received a full-marks 10 rating on football statistics website WhoScored.com, with Lee received a 7.85 rating.

With Lee’s goal on Saturday, his goal record this season is now tied with the entirety of the 2021-22 season, when he scored four goals in 27 league matches.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]