Lee

Korean stars shine in European leagues this weekend

Park Chu-young and Lee Chung-yong score in wins

It was a big Saturday for Korean football players overseas.

Korean striker Park Chu-young scored the winning goal for As Monaco to escape the relegation zone in the French league, while Bolton Wanderers midfielder Lee Chung-yong scored his fourth goal of the season.

Park stunned French Ligue 1 leader Lille by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory, helping Monaco move up to 15th place in the league table.

The 26-year-old showed slick moves in the 12th minute, intercepting a pass from Lille defender Adil Rami and zipping by goalkeeper Mickael Landreau to put the ball into a wideopen net.

It was Park's 11th goal of the season and his second in as many games. The striker scored his 10th goal last week against Arles-Avignon, making him only the second Korean footballer to score 10 goals or more in a single season with a top European league.

The goal also ended Lille's four game winning streak. Lille, who is looking to clinch its first league title in its 53-year history, will be only one point ahead of Olympique Marseille, if Marseille beats Toulouse today, Korea time.

In England, Lee Chung-yong scored Bolton's second goal of the afternoon to help his team beat West Ham United, 3-0, in the 32nd round of English Premier League at the Reebok Stadium, Saturday.

The 23-year-old started the game on the right wing and extended Bolton's lead to 2-0 after scoring a header in the 20th minute, thanks to an assist from teammate Martin Petrov, who crossed the ball from the left flank for Lee to finish a move he started.

It was Lee's first goal in 140 days, his third goal in the Premier League and his fourth overall this season - he scored the winning goal in the FA cup quarterfinal against Birmingham City on March 12. Lee also has seven assists this season.

"I am really satisfied that my team won the game by a big margin," Lee told Ilgan Sports. "After my gaol, I knew my team was going to go on to win the game. I want to continue this form next week."

With Lee's goal and two goals from Daniel Sturridge, who is on loan from Chlesea FC, Bolton moved up to eighth in the Premier League table.

Also on Saturday, Koo ja-cheol got his first German Bundesliga start for VfL Wolfsburg. The 22-year-old played 78 minutes at Schalke 04 on Saturday before getting replaced by Patrick Helmes. Koo, who moved to Germany in January, has played seven games as a substitute but never as a starter, until Saturday. Wolfsburg lost 1-0.

In Scotland, Korean national team right back Cha Du-ri, who plays for Celtic FC, returned to play after suffering an ankle injury in February. Cha played the full game in a 1-0 win over St. Mirren. Cha's fellow Korean teammate Ki Sung-yueng played 61 minutes as a starter.

Two Korean youngsters - Son Heung-min of German club Hamburger SV and Nam Tae-hee of French club Valenciennes FC - were both on the starting team sheets for their respective clubs but did not play. Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sing and AJ Auxerre striler Jung Jo-gook also missed weekend action.