Jeong Sang-bin gets double as Minnesota draw 3-3 with Colorado Rapids

Football

Published: 26 May. 2024, 15:08 Updated: 26 May. 2024, 16:57

Jeong Sang-bin gets double as Minnesota draw 3-3 with Colorado Rapids

Minnesota United midfielder Jeong Sang-bin celebrates scoring a goal during a Major League Soccer match against the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Colorado on Saturday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Minnesota United midfielder Jeong Sang-bin scored a double for the first time in his Major League Soccer (MLS) career as his side drew 3-3 with the Colorado Rapids on Saturday.

Jeong started as one of the wingers at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado and opened the scoring in the eighth minute, capitalizing a through ball by Robin Lod to smash a shot into the back of the net.

Kevin Cabral equalized in the 18th minute, but Minnesota regained their lead with a goal by Tani Oluwaseyi in the 27th minute.

Minnesota stretched the lead with Jeong receiving another through ball by Oluwaseyi and making it 3-1 in the 52nd minute.

Despite Jeong’s efforts, his side failed to secure a win after conceding two goals — to Rafael Navarro in the 62nd minute and Cabral, who also scored a double, in the 71st minute.

Jeong was still voted the man of the match on Saturday. With Saturday’s 3-3 draw, Minnesota sit in second place on the 14-team Western Conference MLS table.

Saturday’s double brings Jeong’s goal count in the 2024 MLS season to three goals after his first goal against the Portland Timbers on May 19.

Since joining Minnesota in March last year from Grasshopper Club Zurich on a loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, he has played 39 games across all competitions in the space of two seasons as a regular pick with four goals and one assist under his belt as of Sunday.

An MLS season runs in one calendar year, with the 2024 regular campaign running from February to October, followed by playoffs from October to December.

Jeong, who has eight U-23 caps, can be in league action without interruption by an international tournament, as the U-23 Korean national team failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics after losing the AFC U-23 Asian Cup quarterfinals to Indonesia last month.

The top three finishers — tournament winners Japan, runners-up Uzbekistan and third-place Iraq — at the Asian Cup earned berths in the Olympics.

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