Takefusa Kubo notched his seventh goal of the Spanish La Liga season Sunday as he helped Real Sociedad come back to beat Mallorca 2-1.
The 22-year-old Samurai Blue star equalized against his former club in the 38th minute at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix after Antonio Sanchez had given the hosts an early lead.
Kubo picked up the ball inside halfway and dribbled into the area before drilling a low shot past Mallorca keeper Predrag Rajkovic. The attacker refrained from celebrating out of respect for Mallorca fans who supported him during two separate loan stints with the club.
"It's because I feel respect and a sense of attachment to the people of Mallorca," Kubo said in his post-match interview.
Kubo went close to a second goal with a curling effort that dipped over the bar in injury time, shortly before Mikel Merino headed the winner for the visitors.
Sociedad moved up to sixth in the table as they ended a five-game scoring drought across all competitions.
"Hopefully this is the end of that trend and we can score more," Kubo said.
Elsewhere in Europe, fellow Japan international Takuma Asano scored for Bochum in their 3-2 upset win at home to German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
Ritsu Doan netted for Freiburg in their 3-3 draw with visiting Eintracht Frankfurt, who gave former Japan captain Makoto Hasebe his first start of the season. The 40-year-old Hasebe played all 90 minutes in central defense.
