Heung-Min Son’s first match at this year’s Asian Cup was one to forget for the Tottenham star, despite his side comfortably beating Bahrain. The forward’s movement caused plenty of issues throughout the 90 minutes but ultimately his finishing let him down when it mattered most.
Jurgen Klinsmann kicked off their Group E campaign with a 3-1 win over Bahrain, and it was Paris Saint-Germain star Lee Kang-In that the German had to thank for securing all three points in a heated contest at the Al-Sadd Stadium.
South Korea opened the scoring in the 39th minute through In-Beom Hwang following a well-worked move down the left. But Bahrain soon hit back against the run of play through Abdullah Al Hashash in the 51st minute when he fired his strike low into the near post after working an opening inside the penalty area.
Lee then stole the show for South Korea, restoring his side’s lead just five minutes after the equaliser when whipping a sensational strike into the bottom corner from outside the box. The ex-Mallorca star then put the game to bed in the 69th minute when cutting the ball onto his left foot and slotting a neat finish into the far corner.
Son provided the assist for the third goal on the day, but his performance left plenty to be desired. The Spurs star squandered several good chances late on to open his account at the tournament, firing a tame strike into the side-netting from close-range when he would have been expected to hit the target at the very minimum.
The 31-year-old was then given the chance to make amends in added time when timing his run expertly to get in behind the Bahrain defence. However, after opening his body up to try and find the far corner whilst bearing down on goal, Son’s strike trickled wide to leave Klinsmann stunned.
