Lee Kang-in was on fire against his hometown club Valencia.
Real Mallorca defeated Valencia 1-0 in the 36th round of the 2022-23 Spanish La Liga at Estadio Mallorca Son Moix in Mallorca, Spain on Saturday at 2:30 a.m. ET. The win leaves Mallorca 11th in the league with 47 points, while Valencia remains 13th with 40 points.
Lee started at left wing-back instead of his usual position as an attacking midfielder or winger. Javier Aguirre stuck with Kopeté, Martin Valiente, and Denis Hajdukadunic in a back three, leaving Lee and Pablo Maffeo at left wingback. It was an unfamiliar role, but Lee made his presence felt with an attacking display.
In the second half, Aguirre took off Amat N’Diaye and brought on Jaume Costa. With Costa on, Lee moved back to the midfield. In the center of the field, Lee looked more threatening and set up Bedat Murki’s goal in the 19th minute with a sharp cross. Muricki’s goal gave Mallorca the lead and Valencia were left with a sense of urgency.
Valencia brought on Samu Castillejo, Justin Kluivert, and Edinson Cavani in quick succession as they pushed hard for an equalizer, but the Mallorca goal was not to be. In the end, the game ended with a 1-0 victory for Mallorca.
Football statistics website FútbolScore.com gave Lee a rating of 7.91. He is the second highest rated player in Mallorca after Kopete (8.04). He contributed to the Mallorca offense. He had 55 touches of the ball, 24 passes (75% success rate), 6 crosses (2 successful), 4 long passes (1 successful), 9 contested chances (5 successful), 3 key passes, and 1 assist. He had four successful dribbles and four attempts, meaning his dribble success rate was 100%.토토사이트
Lee was named the official Man of the Match (MOTM) for the sixth time this season. It’s also his third in a row at home. Lee proved his worth in front of his home fans as he was named MOTM in three consecutive home games against Athletic Club (Bilbao) in Round 32, Cádiz in Round 34, and Valencia in Round 36.
“We didn’t have enough left-back options in Mallorca, so Lee came in. He made some early runs and picked up a yellow card. In the second half, he returned to his familiar position and made the difference. He provided the assist for the goal. When he was substituted at the end of the second half because he was tired, there was a lot of applause.”
Spain’s Mundo Deportivo also wrote: “Lee Kang-in prevented his parent club Valencia from staying up. Lee, who left Valencia in 2021 after playing for the club since he was a youth player and dreamed of a future there, broke his family’s hearts.”