[여기는 런던] ‘Tottenham captain’ Son Heung-min, who returned after 3 weeks, exploded with his 3rd goal in the league… 4-1 win over West Ham

Son Heung-min is celebrating after scoring the team’s 4th goal in the 2024-2025 season EPL 8th round home game against West Ham held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the 19th (Korean time). Photo source｜Tottenham SNS”/>

Tottenham Son Heung-min is celebrating after scoring the team’s 4th goal in the 2024-2025 season EPL 8th round home game against West Ham held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the 19th (Korean time). Photo source｜Tottenham SNS

Tottenham ‘captain’ Son Heung-min (32) returned to perfect form.

Tottenham won 4-1 in the home game of the 8th round of the English Premier League (EPL) of the 2024-2025 season against West Ham held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on the 19th (Korean time). Tottenham, with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses, and 13 points, erased the pain of the 2-3 comeback defeat suffered in the away game at Brighton on the 7th and laid the foundation for a leap forward to the top rankings.

There was great interest in whether Son Heung-min would return. On the 27th of last month, during the home game of the first leg of the UEFA Europa League league phase against Karabakh (Azerbaijan), he felt pain in his left hamstring and withdrew to the bench, missing Tottenham’s three games. He was also excluded from the national team call-up in October and skipped the 3rd and 4th games of Group B of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asian final qualifiers against Jordan (away) and Iraq (home).

Son Heung-min started this day and made his return after about three weeks. Playing as a left winger, he slowly developed his senses by exchanging passes with his teammates, and when the opportunity arose, he boldly attempted to break through.

Tottenham went through a crisis once, but did not waver. The first goal was conceded by Mohamed Kudus in the 18th minute of the first half. Fortunately, Dejan Kulusevski’s left-footed mid-range shot equalized the score in the 36th minute of the first half.

Son Heung-min was involved in all three goals in the second half. In the 7th minute of the second half, Destiny Udogi, who received Son Heung-min’s penetration pass from the left, gave up the ball briefly in front of the goal, and Yves Bissouma converted the goal. Then, three minutes later, Son Heung-min’s left-footed shot hit the opposing goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and rolled into the goal. It was recorded as Areola’s own goal.

Son Heung-min scored a goal. In the 15th minute of the second half, during a counterattack, he hit the net with a left-footed shot with a defender in front of him. A minute later, with momentum, his right-footed shot hit the goalpost.

Son Heung-min, who scored his third league goal this season, tied for 19th place with Raheem Sterling (Arsenal) in the EPL career scoring rankings with 123 goals. Tottenham coach Enze Postecoglou called Son Heung-min to the bench in the 25th minute of the second half.

The local response was overwhelmingly positive. Sofa Score, a soccer statistics specialist, gave Son Heung-min a rating of 8, and FootMob gave Son Heung-min a rating of 8.5. This is the highest score for both teams. Coach Postekoglou said, “Captain Son Heung-min returned and showed his decisiveness to the fullest. “I’m happy with his performance,” he said, giving a thumbs up.

Son Heung-min’s expression was bright when he met Sports Donga after the game. He said, “I had a good time resting and recharging. The most important thing was to recover quickly. “It feels good to come back from injury and play a good game,” he said with a smile.

He did not hide his delight at the national team’s performance of beating Jordan and Iraq 2-0 and 3-2, respectively. Son Heung-min said, “I was worried, and I was disappointed that I couldn’t be with the national team. However, even though we faced a difficult opponent, the players showed a great performance. “My younger brothers deserve praise,” he said.

London｜Correspondent Heo Yu-mi