Son Heung-min (32, Tottenham Hotspur) threw off his shackles and returned as ‘Sony (Son Heung-min’s nickname) that everyone knows.’
Tottenham defeated AFC Bournemouth 3-1 in the 20th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League (PL) season held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England at 11 pm (Korean time) on the 31st. The winner of a fierce underwater battle that lasted over 20 minutes of extra time, including the first and second halves, was the home team Tottenham.
As a result, Tottenham maintained 5th place with 12 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses, and 39 points. The gap with 4th place Arsenal (40 points) is only 1 point. On the other hand, Bournemouth, whose 7-game undefeated streak (6 wins, 1 draw) was broken, ranked 12th with 7 wins, 4 draws, 8 losses, and 25 points.
It was not an easy victory. Tottenham took the lead with Sar’s first goal in the 9th minute of the first half, but began to falter when Sar was substituted due to a sudden injury in the 32nd minute of the first half.
Tottenham continued to face crises due to their unstable defense, but did not concede a goal thanks to Udogi’s quick coverage and Bournemouth’s inaccurate finishing. In the 3rd minute of extra time in the first half, Solanke’s shot bounced off a Davis tackle and hit the crossbar. However, Tottenham was also unable to escape as Richarlison threw Son Heung-min’s perfect pass in the 7th minute of the second half.
A one-goal lead situation where you can’t let down your guard. Son Heung-min appeared as the solution. In the 26th minute of the second half, Giovani Lo Celso delivered an accurate out-front pass into the empty space on the left. Son Heung-min, who caught the ball, ran forward and struck the net with a powerful left-footed shot.
It was Son Heung-min’s 12th goal in the league and an offensive point for three consecutive games. With this goal, he tied Solanke with 12 goals and tied for third in PL scoring. He is 2 goals behind joint leaders Erling Holland (Manchester City) and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), who have 14 goals.
Tottenham succeeded in taking three points thanks to Richarlison’s key goal in the 35th minute of the second half. Although a chasing goal was allowed to Alex Scott at the end of the game, it did not hinder the trend. Scott’s second goal in extra time was ruled offside after a video review.
In the end, Son Heung-min’s score became the winning goal. He led Tottenham’s attack by scoring 1 goal, 2 shots, 97% pass success rate (31/32), and 2 opportunity creations in 90 minutes. Football statistics media ‘Foot Mob’ gave Son Heung-min the second highest rating in the team, 8.1 points.
It was a goal created by Son Heung-min’s sharp decision-making ability. According to Footmob, Son Heung-min’s expected score (xG) in scoring scenes was only 0.09. This means that if you shoot 100 times, there are about 9 opportunities that will lead to a score. However, he cut the net with an accurate left-footed shot, showing that numbers are just numbers.
MOTM (Man of the match) was also Son Heung-min’s responsibility. After the game, the PL secretariat announced that Son Heung-min was selected as MOTM, boasting an overwhelming vote rate of 74.6% in fan voting. This is the 8th selection this season.
With this goal, Son Heung-min achieved 12 goals, 5 assists, and 17 attack points in the league this season. This record surpasses the 16 league attack points (10 goals, 6 assists) accumulated last season. He surpassed his one-season performance in just 20 league games.
Soccer statistics media ‘Opta’ also said, “Son Heung-min scored 10 goals and 6 assists in 36 games in the 2022-2023 season, and scored 12 goals and 5 assists in 20 games in the 2023-2024 season. He is now the leader in last season’s attack. “The point has been surpassed. Son Heung-min has been liberated,” he emphasized.
Fans also said, “I expect Son Heung-min to return to the way he was before coach Conte,” “It’s not bad for a central midfielder to score 10 goals and 6 assists,” “It was because of the injury and coach Conte,” “He was truly liberated. It was the hernia and Conte’s loss.” Reactions such as “From the director” and “FU** Conte” were left.
Son Heung-min suffered from sports hernia and orbital fracture surgery last season. Moreover, due to coach Antonio Conte’s tactics, he had a hard time scoring goals as he was moving away from his goal. There was even talk that Son Heung-min was playing like a central midfielder or wingback.
Nevertheless, Son Heung-min succeeded in recording 10 goals and 6 assists in the league and 14 goals and 6 assists in official games. However, it was also true that there was some disappointment as Son Heung-min was the top scorer in the previous season with 23 goals and 7 assists.
Tottenham fired coach Conte midway through the season, and appointed coach Enzi Postecoglou ahead of this season, ushering in a new era. Son Heung-min also strengthened his resolve to return to the ‘Sony everyone knows’, and has already succeeded in showing off his courage by scoring 12 goals and 5 assists.
He also achieved a European record of 300 attack points. Son Heung-min made his professional debut with Hamburg in the Bundesliga in October 2010, and announced his emergence by scoring a wonder goal against Cologne in his Bundesliga debut.
Since then, Son Heung-min has continued to play for Leverkusen and Tottenham, accumulating attack points. He has scored double-digit scores for 8 consecutive PL seasons, including this season, and has only 3 points remaining, including 20 or more attack points for 8 consecutive seasons. Son Heung-min played in 559 games until the Bournemouth game, scoring 206 goals and 94 assists, and amassing a milestone of 300 attack points.
The most attack points in a career season is 39. Son Heung-min scored 22 goals and 17 assists in 51 games across all competitions in the 2020-2021 season, when he was the top scorer.
Now Son Heung-min leaves Tottenham for a while and wears the Taegeuk symbol on his chest. After the game against Bournemouth, he will join the Korean national football team led by coach Jurgen Klinsmann and participate in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup.
The Korean national team will be convened in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on January 2 and begin final training for the Asian Cup. They will play a friendly match against Iraq at New York University’s Abu Dhabi Stadium in the United Arab Emirates at 10 p.m. on the 6th and then enter Qatar, the site of the final match, on the 10th.
Klinsmann attempts to become the first Asian leader in 64 years. Although he is a Korean known as the Asian Tiger, he has never lifted a trophy since winning the inaugural tournament in 1956 and the second tournament in 1960. Korea is taking the lead with its golden generation of players including Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), and Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain).
/finekosh@osen.co.kr
[사진] ⓒGettyimages (Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited), Tottenham Hotspur social media.
2024-01-02 05:37:15
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