South Korea star Son Heung-min made his MLS debut for Los Angeles FC on Saturday, offering a burst of vitality as a second-half substitute in a 2-2 draw with the Hearth in Chicago.
Son drew a penalty within the 77th minute that Denis Bouanga transformed to clinch the draw within the 81st minute – VAR confirming the spot kick after the referee initially let play proceed.
“Clearly it was undoubtedly contact and it was undoubtedly a penalty, I've little question about it,” stated Son, who was despatched sprawling within the space by Carlos Teran after getting free on a breakaway. “And, yeah, we tied the sport, however I feel we must always have received this sport, [so] just a little bit disenchanted.”
Along with drawing the penalty, Son had three pictures on purpose – all saved with relative ease by Hearth keeper Chris Brady.
Son signed with LAFC on Wednesday for a reported MLS document switch charge of $26m switch after a decade with Tottenham within the Premier League – the place he grew to become a family identify.
The South Korea captain had introduced simply the earlier Saturday in his homeland that he could be leaving Spurs. He departed as Tottenham's fifth-highest goalscorer of all time with 173 objectives in 454 appearances.
Son's first likelihood to play in entrance of dwelling followers in Los Angeles will come in opposition to Western Convention leaders San Diego on 31 August. Son's transfer is predicted to resonate with Los Angeles' sizeable Korean neighborhood. The workforce's stadium is simply south of Koreatown.
However loads of his jerseys, South Korean flags and indicators welcoming him to MLS have been dotted across the Hearth's SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday, and cheers greeted his entry instead of David Martinez within the 61st minute with the groups stage at 1-1.
“I actually loved it. You by no means had this coming from away video games,” stated Son. “I used to play within the Premier League. Once I performed at away grounds they have been at all times booing me and at all times booing the gamers. But it surely was good to see individuals have been celebrating, individuals have been having fun with the soccer.”
Jonathan Bamba put Chicago up 2-1 within the seventieth minute. Teran had opened the scoring within the eleventh with a header off a nook kick. Eight minutes later Ryan Hollingshead nodded in off a nook kick to drag LAFC stage at 1-1.
Son had stated at his introductory press convention on Wednesday that he felt preventing match and needed to get on the pitch “as quickly as potential.” His arrival reunites him with former Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris, the French goalkeeper who stated the South Korean will make a “massive affect.”
“It's nice for the league, nice for town, nice for the membership,” Lloris stated.
