SINGAPORE: With Son Heung-min firing on all cylinders, South Korea romped to a 7-0 victory against Singapore at a sold-out National Stadium on Thursday (Jun 6).
Goals from Joo Min-kyu, Bae Jun-ho and substitute Hwang Hee-chan along with doubles from Son as well as Lee Kang-in wrapped up the three points as the Lions remain rooted to the bottom of their World Cup qualifying group.
In front of 49,097 fans, Tottenham Hotspur forward Son looked dangerous straight from the off, as he wreaked havoc on the left flank.
But it was a moment of magic from Lee which gave the South Koreans the lead, after he wriggled past two defenders and hammered a strike past Hassan Sunny.
Minutes later, Singapore fashioned a good chance at an equaliser, but striker Ikhsan Fandi’s header was pushed away smartly by Jo Hyeon-woo.
South Korea interim head coach Kim Do-hoon’s team were clearly looking to stretch play down the sidelines and they doubled their lead in the 20th minute after Kim Jin-su whipped a delicious cross into the Singapore penalty box.
Lurking was Joo, who had the freedom of the box to plant a header home.
Singapore struggled to craft much going forward as the South Koreans almost tripled their lead after a defensive mix-up soon after
South Korea are currently ranked 23rd in the FIFA World Rankings, while Singapore sit in 155th spot.
After the half, Tsutomu Ogura’s men looked energetic, but their opponents were content to soak up the pressure before playing their way out from the back just as they had in the first 45.
And it was Son once again who beat his man and squared a delicate cut-back, only for the pass to elude everyone.