Koreans in Europe: Hwang Ui-jo snaps long drought with first goal for Norwich

Norwich City mark Hwang Ui-jo's goal in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Satuday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Hwang Ui-jo scored his first league goal in Europe since April last year on Saturday, providing a brief moment of excitement for Norwich City in a difficult 3-1 Championship loss to Sunderland.

Hwang opened the scoring at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England, slotting a pass from Kellen Fisher into the far corner with a clinical finish in the 23rd minute.

That was it for Norwich, who went on to concede 15 minutes later and then twice more in the second half for the 3-1 loss.

But despite the tough game for the team, Saturday’s result has got to be a serious moment of relief for Hwang.

Once the darling of then-Ligue 1 team Bordeaux, Hwang went from being a French top-tier team’s top scorer to persona non grata at Greek side Olympiacos, back to Korea to K League 1 side FC Seoul — where he did score four goals — on to Nottingham Forest where he never got a chance to play and then loaned to Norwich City.

Hwang’s last league goal outside of the K League was for Bordeaux back in the 2021-22 season, so Saturday’s effort snapped a long European drought for the veteran striker.

It didn’t do much good for Norwich, however, who now sit in 17th place on the 24-team table with five wins, two draws and seven losses this season.

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