Sports Chosun = Reporter Park Chan-jun
Reuters Yonhap News
[스포츠조선 박찬준 기자]“I am the luckiest person in the world!”
Reuters Yonhap News
It was a touching comment from ‘Sonta Claus’ Son Heung-min (Tottenham). Son Heung-min scored the winning goal in the 18th minute of the first half in the 18th round home game of the 2023-2024 English Premier League (EPL) against Everton held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on the 24th (Korean time). The power of ‘Sonta Claus’, which is strong at Christmas, was fully demonstrated. Son Heung-min had a great performance with 2 goals and 1 assist on Christmas Eve 2018. The opponent at that time was also Everton. At the time, the EPL secretariat left a message saying, ‘Sonta Claus (Son Heung-min + Santa Claus) came to town!’ Son Heung-min scored again against Everton, giving Korean and Tottenham fans the best Christmas present. Tottenham won 2-1 with Son Heung-min’s winning goal. With today’s victory, Tottenham reached 36 points and reduced the point gap with leader Arsenal to 4 points. Jumped up to 4th place.
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After the game, Son Heung-min left a touching interview. After the game, he said, “I am so grateful to be able to play in a Tottenham uniform. I also feel like I am the luckiest person in the world because I am receiving so much support.” “Christmas is always a fun time. We need to enjoy these two days so we can turn things around quickly,” he said, via the BBC. “The top four is our target and we want to keep improving.” He didn’t forget to send a message to his fans through his social media. He said, “It’s a big three points that needed a great fight from everyone at the club and we move on to Thursday (29th). I hope everyone has a merry and happy Christmas and happy holidays with their loved ones.”
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Son Heung-min played as a left winger in the match against Everton and showed great success once again. The home team Tottenham adopted the 4-2-3-1 tactic. Richarlison was at the front line. Brennan Johnson, Dejan Klusevski, and Son Heung-min supported the second line. In the third line, Pape Sar and Oliver Skipp worked together. The back four consisted of Emerson Royale, Ben Davis, Christian Romero, and Pedro Foro. The goal was guarded by Guglielmo Vicario. Son Heung-min scored the team’s second goal that day. In the 18th minute of the first half, in a corner kick situation, the shot attempted through the connection between Foro and Kurusevski was blocked by Pickford and bounced. Son Heung-min calmly caught the ball and kicked it accurately in a direction that Pickford could not block, hitting the net.
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Son Heung-min scored his 11th league goal this season, tying for third place in scoring along with West Ham’s Jared Bowen and Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke. Manchester City goalscorer Erling Holland leads the way with 14 goals, and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah ranks second with 12 goals. With this goal, Son Heung-min recorded 114 goals in the Premier League, surpassing Ian Wright and taking 23rd place on the Premier League’s total scoring list. He also narrowed the gap with Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling, who were in 21st place with 120 goals, to 6 goals.
Photo = Action Images via Reuters-X03806 Yonhap News
On this day, Son Heung-min played full time and led Tottenham in attack and defense, including one goal, one chance creation, three successful dribbles, and five successful duels. After the game, he was selected as the best player of the game (MOM) by the fans. It received high praise from outsiders as well. Statistics media Footmob gave Son Heung-min a rating of 7.8 points, which ranked third on the team after Johnson (8.6 points) and Emerson (8.6 points). SofaScore also gave Son Heung-min the fourth highest rating, following Emerson, Johnson, and Forro, with a rating of 7.2.
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Britain’s Evening Standard also gave Son Heung-min a rating of 7 and said, ‘He carried the ball with very precise control. “Tottenham ultimately put themselves in an unassailable position when he scored to make it 2-0,” he said. England’s Football London also gave Son Heung-min 7 points, saying, ‘He made a great performance by scoring the 11th goal with a refreshing shot. He commented, “I had a good opportunity to pass at the end of the second half, but I missed the shot.” ’90min’ also praised him, saying, ‘The finish was a mess and the ball got stuck at his feet for a while, but in the end, his score was decisive.’
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Son Heung-min has recently returned and is active as a winger. The position of frontline striker, a position he has been playing since the last 4 rounds, was given to Richarli Song, and he is playing in his original position again. Son Heung-min’s transformation into a frontline striker was one of the best choices in the first half of this season. Tottenham’s frontline striker Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich ahead of this season. Doubts about whether they could make up for the departure of Kane, who scored 30 goals in the league last season and was a big part of Tottenham’s strength, followed Tottenham until the start of the season. In fact, although Tottenham continued their undefeated streak immediately after the league opened, their offensive performance up front was evaluated as disappointing until the third round.
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Coach Postekoglou made a decision in the 4th round of the league against Burnley. Coach Postekoglou selected Son Heung-min as the frontline striker instead of Richarlison, who was underperforming. And Son Heung-min repaid the coach’s faith. Son Heung-min got off to a good start by breaking away from last season’s slump by scoring a hat-trick, including the season-high goal against Burnley. Son Heung-min, who was positioned in the center, opened the attack path with strong pressure and play going back and forth between both sides. In the 16th minute of the first half when the team was behind 0-1 against Burnley, Son Heung-min received a pass from left winger Manor Solomon and scored the equalizer with a chip shot over the key in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. Afterwards, he completed a hat trick by adding two goals in the second half, completely dispelling the disappointment of not scoring in the previous three rounds.
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Son Heung-min played a big role in helping the team get one point in the away game against Arsenal, scoring twice to balance the score every time the team conceded a goal. His scoring continued. Son Heung-min, who played as a lone striker again against Liverpool, passed in the 36th minute of the first half when Maddison confirmed Richarlison’s penetration, and Richarlison crossed, but Son Heung-min, who was rushing in front of the goal, easily turned it around and put it in Liverpool’s net. shook it. Son Heung-min, living up to Coach Postekoglou’s trust, showed off his performance by scoring 6 goals in 3 of the 4 games in September in which he played as a frontline striker. Afterwards, Son Heung-min played as a lone striker in the match against Luton Town, and although he had no attacking points, he helped the team attack with consistent forward pressure.
Son Heung-min, who had not scored in early October, showed his scoring instinct again in the match against Fulham after the October international match period. In the 36th minute of the first half, Vander Pen intercepted a pass from in front of the opponent’s penalty box, and Richarlison passed it to Son Heung-min, who was in front of the box. Son Heung-min immediately turned around between the defenses and hit Fulham’s net with a sharp right-footed kick. Son Heung-min and Richarlison teamed up to score once again following the previous match against Liverpool. In the subsequent match against Palace, he scored the winning goal, leading the team to a 10-game undefeated streak.
Afterwards, Maddison suffered an injury and had a brief slump, but quickly returned to his original form with 1 goal and 1 assist against Manchester City and 1 goal and 2 assists against Newcastle. He continued his good mood this season by scoring against Everton.
Reporter Park Chan-jun vanbasten@sportschosun.com
2023-12-25 01:05:53
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