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Bae Jun-ho, Yang Hyun-jun score in midweek action as international break nears

Published: 26 Feb. 2025, 10:47 Updated: 26 Feb. 2025, 17:42

Bae Jun-ho celebrates after scoring against Middlesbrough at Bet365 Stadium in Stoke, England on Feb. 25 in a picture posted on the club's official Instagram account. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Bae Jun-ho scored his second league goal of the season on Tuesday, but it wasn't enough to prevent Stoke City from falling 3-1 to Middlesbrough.

Stoke hosted Middlesbrough at Bet365 Stadium on Tuesday night in a rescheduled Championship fixture, suffering a second consecutive loss. The result leaves them in 20th on the 24-team table with 35 points, just five clear of 22nd-place Plymouth Argyle and the relegation zone.

Starting on the left wing, Bae equalized just before halftime. In the 45th minute, he latched onto a cutback from Andrew Moran inside the box and fired a right-footed shot past the goalkeeper. It was Bae’s second league goal of the season, following his first against Swansea City on Feb. 16. He also has five assists.

Football analytics site Sofascore rated Bae 7.5, the highest of the team.

On the same night, Celtic’s Yang Hyun-jun also found the net up in Scotland, scoring in a dominant 5-1 win over Aberdeen at Celtic Park.

Yang came on in the 59th minute for Joao Filipe and made an impact just 13 minutes later. Combining with teammates Arne Engels and Luke McCowan, he dribbled through the Aberdeen defense before finishing with a left-footed strike from inside the box.

The goal was Yang’s second in the Scottish Premiership this season, adding to two assists. Across all competitions, he has three goals and five assists. Whoscored.com rated his performance at 7.3, while Sofascore gave him a 7.4.

Both Bae and Yang will be hoping to impress over the next couple of weeks ahead of the international break at the end of March. Both have been called up within the last year, with Bae scoring two goals in six appearances for Korea.

Korea face Oman on March 20 and Jordan on March 25 as part of the third round of qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

BY PI JU-YOUNG [[email protected]]