Soccer-Lee guides South Korea to 3-1 Asian Cup over Bahrain

South Korea beat Bahrain 3-1 in their Asian Cup Group E opener on Monday with Paris St Germain's Lee Kang-in rescuing his side with a second-half brace at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

In a stop-start opening half that had plenty of fouls and several yellow cards, South Korea took the lead in the 38th minute from a quick passing move where Hwang In-Beom fired home through a crowd of Bahrain defenders in the box. Bahrain equalised six minutes into the second half when Abdullah Al-Hashsash found space inside the box to score but South Korea responded five minutes later when Lee curled in a superb strike from long range.

Lee then scored his second in the 68th minute, showcasing some panache as he curled another shot past the keeper into the far post to seal the three points for South Korea while he went joint-top of the tournament's scoring charts.