By Baek Byung-yeul
Tottenham Hotspur’s forward Son Heung-min has become the most prolific Korean footballer in European football as he netted twice against Leicester City for his record 21 goals of a single season, Thursday.
During the English Premier League (EPL) match at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, the 24-year-old helped his team to a 6-1 win with two goals and an assist. Now Son’s tally for the 2016-17 season stands at 21, surpassing his country’s iconic footballer Cha Bum-kun’s 31-year old single season scoring record in Europe by a Korean player. In the 1985-86 season, the now 63-year-old legend had 19 goals with Bayer Leverkusen.
Adding two goals, Son now has scored 29 goals in 86 matches over two seasons and became the highest-scoring Korean in the EPL, edging out the first Korean Premier Leaguer Park Ji-sung. While playing for Manchester United and Queens Park Rangers before retiring in 2014, the midfielder had 27 goals in 230 matches in eight seasons.
Son shined from the beginning of the game as he helped his team’s first goal.
In the 25th minute, Son delivered a precise pass to striker Harry Kane and shot into the bottom left corner for a 1-0 lead. The assist was Son’s fifth assist of the season and the first since the match against Watford on April 8.
Tottenham’s second goal came from Son’s foot in the 36th minute as he shot off a pass from Dele Alli.
Son scored another brace in the latter half for his 21st goal of the season as he hit a stunning strike into the bottom right corner with his right foot for 4-1 lead in the 71st minute. Son was substituted for Vincent Janssen in the 78th minute.
Overall, Kane scored four goals to stay as an EPL’s top scorer with 26 league goals. Though he missed three months of the season due to injury, he has scored 32 goals in all competitions.
Tottenham already cemented their second-place finish and now has 83 points, still seven points behind Chelsea, while Leicester is 11th with 43 points. Son will have one more chance to extend his scoring record as his team will play the relegated Hull City in the final day of the season on Sunday.