Tanaka, Japan's 12th Premier League scorer, contributes to EPL's debut goal against Chelsea → Leeds 31 victory
Dec 04, 2025
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Japanese national midfielder Tanaka Ao (Liz United) scored the winning goal in the 14th round home game of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2025-2026 season against Chelsea at Allen Road in Leeds, England, on the 4th (Korea time), leading his team to a surprise 3-1 victory
Tanaka, who is from Kawasaki Frontale, Japan, joined Leeds last year after passing through Fortuna Düsseldorf, Germany, and led the promotion to the first division, scored his debut goal in 10 EPL games this season.
In the 43rd minute of the first half, when his team was ahead 1-0 with Xhaka Bjoll's 'admission goal', Jadon Bogle's forward pass near the penalty arc shook the net with a sharp right-footed mid-range shot that cut the bottom right of the goal.
Tanaka's goal was recorded as the winning goal. Leeds dedicated the chasing goal to Pedro Netu in the fifth minute of the second half, but Donimic Calvert-Lewin's net in the 27th minute of the second half shook off four consecutive losses and won three valuable points. With four wins, two draws, eight losses and 14 points, Leeds defeated West Ham (11 points), who had played one less game, and jumped to 17th place, the remaining spot.
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On the other hand, Chelsea, which had been undefeated, dropped one spot to fourth place by allowing Aston Villa (27 points) with seven wins, three draws and four losses (24 points). It failed to solve the "Jinks" that won just six games in 49 away games at Allen Road.
Tanaka joined the Japanese Premier League scorer club for the 12th time with the score of the day.
Junichi Inamoto, Hidetoshi Nagata (retired), Shinji Kagawa (Cerezo Osaka), Maya Yoshida (LA Galaxy), Shinji Okazaki (retired), Yoshinori Muto (Vissel Kobe), Takumi Minamito (ASmonako), Wataru Endo (Riverpool), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Invincible), Yukinari Sugawara (Verder Bremen), and Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton).
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Hwang Hee-chan is playing alone in the EPL this season, after Son Heung-min left Tottenham for the first time in 10 years. Hwang Hee-chan scored one goal in a total of nine games, including a substitution against Nottingham Forest on the 4th when his team lost 0-1. Tottenham's Yang Min-hyuk (Portsmouth) and Brentford's Kim Ji-soo (Kaiser Schlautern) have left on loan, while Park Seung-soo is gaining experience in Newcastle's age-specific team.
On the other hand, Japan's four players, including Tanaka, Mitoma, Endo and Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), participated in the EPL game, and Tanaka and Mitoma each scored one goal. Including defender Takai Gota, who joined Tottenham this year, there are five players. He has five Japanese Premier Leaguers for two consecutive seasons following the 2024-2025 season. Takai suffered a long-term injury during the preseason and has yet to make his EPL debut.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
