Kim Min-jae’s first ‘Player of the Month’ after returning
Turin lockdown and unbeaten streak for 8 matches
Son Heung-min, 0 shots and silence against Arsenal
Min-jae Kim, the ‘monster defender’ who was selected as the player of the month for Serie A in Italy, played full-time and led Napoli’s 8-game undefeated streak.
Napoli won 3-1 in the 8th round of Serie A of the 2022-23 season against Turin at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples, Italy on the 1st (Korean time). Napoli has been leading the league with a record of 8 unbeaten matches (6 wins, 2 draws, 20 points) in the opening match along with 4 consecutive league wins. Including the UEFA Champions League group stage (2 wins), Napoli are unbeaten in 10 consecutive matches this season. On the other hand, Turin, which has lost three consecutive league losses, is in ninth place (10 points).
Kim Min-jae returned to his team after playing full-time in both matches of the A-match held in Korea in September, but he did not seem tired from long-distance flights and consecutive business trips. Kim Min-jae also won the Serie A Player of the Month award in front of the home fans before the game. Kim Min-jae is the first Asian player to be selected for the Serie A Player of the Month award starting from the 2019-20 season.
On this day too, Kim Min-jae showed why he is called ‘monster defender’ and ‘byeok Min-jae’. With his relentless defense, he recorded seven kicks, two interceptions and four block shots, including two blocking Turin’s decisive shot opportunities.
While Kim Min-jae showed an iron-wall defense, Napoli scored three goals in the first half alone and grabbed the victory early. In the 6th and 12th minutes of the first half, Zambo Anguisa scored multiple goals, and in the 37th minute, Hvica Kvaratshelia broke through and scored the third goal for the team. In the 44th minute of the first half, Napoli conceded a goal to Antonio Sanabria of Turin, but the game ended without conceding an additional goal.
Meanwhile, in the ‘North London Derby’ between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in the English Premier League (EPL), Tottenham lost 1-3. Son Heung-min started and played until the 27th minute of the second half, but was silent with 0 shots. Tottenham Hotspur recorded their first defeat after ending their regular league unbeaten streak (5 wins, 2 draws) this season.
By Kim Dong-hyun