Lee Jae-sung bags a goal and an assist in 4-0 win for Mainz

Football

Published: 25 Feb. 2023, 08:11 Updated: 26 Feb. 2023, 16:26

Lee Jae-sung bags a goal and an assist in 4-0 win for Mainz

Lee Jae-sung celebrates after scoring the opening goal of a game between Mainz 05 and Monchengladbach in a score updated posted at half time on the official Mainz 05 Instagram page on Friday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Lee Jae-sung's hot streak continued Friday as the Mainz midfielder picked up a goal and an assist in the 05ers 4-0 win over Monchengladbach at home.

Lee once again opened the scoring, heading in a well-placed cross at the near post in the 25th minute. Lee was then heavily involved in the buildup for Marcus Ingvartsen's second goal shortly after the break, before feeding the ball to Ludovic Ajorque for goal No. 3 in the 71st minute.

Lee went off after 74 minutes, with Nelson Weiper adding one more for Mainz in injury time to take the score to 4-0.

With the win, Mainz climb up to seventh on the Bundesliga table as of press time Saturday, a big jump up from 10th place just a week ago.

Friday's goal and assist continued a run of fantastic form for Lee.

The Korean midfielder has now seen some goal involvement in five of the last six games. He picked up an assist last week against Bayern Leverkusen, scored a brace against FC Augsburg a week earlier and scored against VfL Bochum on Jan. 28 and Dortmund on Jan. 25.

Lee now has seven goals on the season, marking his highest-scoring season ever in the Bundesliga and the second-highest-scoring of his entire career.

Never a particularly prolific goal scorer, 30-year-old Lee has always been a classic center midfielder, creating opportunities for more offensive players while hanging back a big deeper on the attack.

As a result, Lee is a regular starter but rarely a goal scorer. He plays the same role for the Korean national team, where he is a core part of the starting XI but without the glitz and glamour that comes with an impressive scoresheet.

Lee’s highest-scoring season was the 2019-2020. Bundesliga season with Holstein Kiel, where he managed nine goals and seven assists in 31 appearances.

Mainz will be back in action on March 4 as they take on 15th-place Hoffenheim at home. With plenty of football still to play this season, the resurgent Mainz squad still have an outside shot at breaking the six-point gap into the top six to play some European football next season.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]