Jeong Woo-yeong gets first goal for Stuttgart in 3-1 win over Kim Min-jae's Bayern Munich

Football

Published: 05 May. 2024, 14:26 Updated: 05 May. 2024, 17:26

Jeong Woo-yeong gets first goal for Stuttgart in 3-1 win over Kim Min-jae's Bayern Munich

VfB Stuttgart's Jeong Woo-yeong celebrates scoring a goal during a Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich at the MHP Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

Jeong Woo-yeong scored his first goal for VfB Stuttgart in their 3-1 win over Kim Min-jae’s Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

It was a Korean derby at the MHP Arena in Stuttgart, Germany as Jeong's Stuttgart hosted Bayern at home.

The score was tied at 1-1 after the opener by Stuttgart midfielder Leonidas Stergiou in the 29th minute and a penalty from Bayern forward Harry Kane in the 37th minute.

Midfielder Jeong, who came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute, headed in the ball in the 83rd minute in front of defender Kim before Stuttgart's Silas added goal No. 3 in stoppage time to seal the 3-1 victory.

Saturday’s goal was Jeong’s first for Stuttgart since he joined the club in July last year from fellow Bundesliga team SC Freiburg, where he played since 2019.

With 84 appearances and 10 goals from the 2019-20 season to the 2022-23 season, Jeong spent most of his time at Freiburg on the bench, appearing often as a second-half substitute to provide some new legs in the midfield. He plays a similar role for the Korean national team, where he has 20 caps and four goals to his name, but lacked the opportunity at Freiburg to develop into a full-match player.

Even at Stuttgart, he has yet to establish himself as a key midfielder, mostly playing as a substitute in the 2023-24 season. He has recorded one goal and two assists. He played a full 90 minutes just twice this season — in league matches against VfL Bochum and RB Leipzig in August.

Jeong can pursue his career at Stuttgart uninterrupted, however, as he earned mandatory military service exemption through a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

With Saturday’s win, third-place Stuttgart narrowed the points gap with second-place Bayern to two points with two league matches left to go for both sides.

Both teams, however, are out of the 2023-24 Bundesliga title race, as Bayer 04 Leverkusen already locked in the title last month with five fixtures left to finish. That victory marked Leverkusen’s first league title in history.

Stuttgart will be back in action on May 10 as they face Augsburg, while Bayern will fly to Spain to play Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals on May 8 after ending the first leg 2-2.

Losing the second leg will mean a trophyless season for Bayern, who won an 11th straight Bundesliga title last year.

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