[골닷컴] Reporter Kang Dong-hun = Kim Min-jae (26, Naples) showed a perfect performance when executing the ‘Iron Pillar’ mode. In particular, he thwarted the Juventus attack while remaining focused until the final whistle blew.
Kim Min-jae started the 2022-2023 season Italian Serie A away round 31 match against Juventus held at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy on the 24th at 3:45 am (Korea time), keeping 1-0 Napoli contributed to the win.
He has completely returned to the ‘iron pillar’ Kim Min-jae we know. On this day, he ‘blocked the source’ of Juventus’ attack while remaining focused throughout the 90 minutes. In particular, he was physically exhausted at the end of the second half, and there was an injury afterwards, but he stuck like a stick to not allow a goal and managed to defend.
The representative scene came around the 44th minute of the second half. When Angel Di María (35) tried to touch the ball inside the penalty box, Kim Min-jae pushed right in the head first and kicked it away. After that, he followed the ball to the end and kicked it away with his body flying, and even showed the figure of getting up and covering it again. He was truly an ‘iron man’ himself.
Also, in the extra time of the second half, he prevented Federico Chiesa (25) from breaking through well. In particular, thanks to Kim Min-jae not giving up and blocking the ball until the end, the ball went off the goal line, and after that, Doosan Blahovic’s goal (23) was finally canceled and succeeded Napoli to defend the victory.
In addition to that, Kim Min-jae also left an impression with his wing-like movements. In the 17th minute of the first half, when there was no room to pass during the build-up, he recklessly tried to overlap. He crossed the half line in an instant, dug into the final third area, and stabbed a pass. It broke through 60M in 6 seconds.
According to Whoscored.com, a football statistics media outlet, Kim Min-jae recorded 3 kicks, 2 interceptions, 1 successful tackle and 1 match win. In this performance, he received a score of 7.06. This was the fifth highest score among the two teams.
Meanwhile, Napoli won the Juventus expedition for the first time in five years with a theatrical goal by Giacomo Raspadori (23) in extra time in the second half. With this victory, they continued their unbeaten run of 3 games (2 wins, 1 draw), and also succeeded in a ‘sweep’. While maintaining their first place (25 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses, 78 points), they widened the gap with second place Lazio (61 points) to 17 points.
