Koreans in Europe: Kim Min-jae gets first Bundesliga goal in 3-0 win

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Koreans in Europe: Kim Min-jae gets first Bundesliga goal in 3-0 win

Published: 18 Dec. 2023, 13:50 Updated: 18 Dec. 2023, 15:51

JIM BULLEY
jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr

Bayern Munich's Kim Min-jae, second from left, scores their third goal past VfB Stuttgart's Alexander Nubel during a Bundesliga game in Munich on Sunday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae scored the first goal of his Bundesliga career on Sunday, heading in No. 3 in a Korean derby win over Jeong Woo-yeong’s VfB Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Bayern got off to a fast start at home, with Harry Kane scoring the opening goal at just the 2-minute mark. Kane returned to score a second goal in the 55th minute, before passing the baton to Kim in the 63rd to take the score to 3-0.

Kim’s debut goal nearly came far earlier in the match. The 27-year-old had a goal ruled offside in the 25th minute — also headed in — in what at the time appeared to be a VAR check gone wrong, but later turned out to be a VAR check gone missing.

Kim was initially awarded the goal by the referee but flagged offside by the linesman. The referee then signaled for a VAR check and held his hand to his ear to listen to the response, ultimately ruling offside and signaling play on.

It was not until half time that it was revealed that due to a fault the VAR had failed, meaning the linesman call stood despite it appearing that Kim was onside.

Despite the confusion, the Korean Monster rallied to redress the imbalance on his own in the second half, heading in from a very similar position for the first goal of his Bundesliga career.

Kim has always been a serious threat in the air, his height and physical presence allowing him to carve out a space in the box as a classic up-for-every-corner center-back. He used that strength to great effect to bag two Serie A goals in the league-winning campaign with Napoli last year, and has scored four times for the Korean national team.

Bayern Munich's Kim Min-jae, second from right, celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's third goal during a Bundesliga match against Stuttgart in Munich on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

Kim’s personal milestone was perhaps trumped by Kane, who set a new Bundesliga record for the fastest player to reach 20 goals in a season.

Kane scored his 19th and 20th goals in just his 14th game, blowing the previous record set by Uwe Seeler in 21 games in the 1960s out of the water.

The big win on Sunday leaves Bayern Munich four points behind Bayern Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga table.

On the Stuttgart side, Jeong came on as a substitute in the 77th minute.

The young Korean midfielder, the Golden Boot winner at the Asian Games earlier this year, has struggled to see much time on the pitch since joining Stuttgart over the summer, managing no more than 15 minutes in the last five games.

Kim and Jeong are two of three Korean players currently active in the Bundesliga, alongside Lee Jae-sung of Mainz. That creates potentially six Bundesliga Korean derbies a season, with Mainz having already lost 3-1 to both Bayern and Stuttgart earlier in the campaign.

Mainz, currently in 17th place on the 18-team table, were also in action over the weekend, picking up another loss on Saturday to Heidenheim.

All three clubs have little time to rest before their final game of the year, with Mainz set to face Dortmund on Tursday and Bayern in action against Wolfsburg and Stuttgart against Augsburg on Wednesday.

The Bundesliga will then take a short winter break, with games resuming on Jan. 12.

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