Football news - Tottenham enter defining month with season in Heung-min Son's hands
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 03/02/2019 at 09:42 GMT
It wasn't long before the pull-out statistic from Tottenham's very unconvincing win over Newcastle was doing the rounds among Arsenal fans, but Heung-min Son's late intervention kept hopes of tangible silverware alive, writes Ben Grounds.
Heung-min Son
Image credit: Getty Images
Twenty-nine consecutive games without a draw is a new Premier League record, beating Bolton’s previous best of 28 set in 2011. Add that to a barren trophy cabinet since 2008.
But having combined with Fernando Llorente for Spurs' equalising goal against Watford in midweek, Son was the hero once more in Harry Kane's continued absence as Newcastle's stubborn resolve was finally broken after 83 minutes at Wembley on Saturday.
Son continues to shine in Kane's absence
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2019/02/02/2514885-52196410-2560-1440.jpg)
Heung-min Son fires his shot underneath Martin Dubravka
Image credit: Getty Images
The result moves Spurs up to second in the Premier League at least for the time being, with Manchester City hosting Arsenal on Sunday. What a homecoming it has been for Son, who after missing just one league game due to his Asian Cup commitments with South Korea, now has 10 Premier League goals for the season - with all of his strikes coming after November 24.
Indeed, in Son's last 10 Premier League games for Spurs, he has scored nine goals and provided five assists. While Kane and Dele Alli have been highlighted as notable absentees, it is the former Bayer Leverkusen man who Tottenham can't do without.
"Of course I'm tired, but the two games were very important," he told Sky Sports. "With six points from these two games, it's very important. It's not just me but everyone has to try. Football is not easy and we have to wait for the right moment. Luckily, I got the chance and I'm very grateful for my team-mates.
Because of my team-mates and the coaching staff, they give me confidence. It was my dream to play in Premier League. I'm enjoying every second and I will try to do more every season.
Son was slow to get started this season, but that was largely due to his presence at the Asian Games. He is now central to Spurs' hopes of finishing in the top four, and he appears to relish shouldering the burden without Kane.
The South Korean produced 16 sprints, more than any other player in this match, making a mockery of any suggestion he is fatigued, and Son only appears to be getting stronger as the season progresses.
This was a vital win for Spurs, and Son is a dream for Mauricio Pochettino. He's no frills, but every game he is at it. At this stage of the season, it is not about how you play, but all about getting the win. This wasn't pretty for Pochettino's men, but it was the latest show of character in the absence of a string of significant players.
Llorente gives Spurs focal point
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2019/02/02/2514891-52196530-2560-1440.jpg)
Fernando Llorente provided Spurs with a different dimension
Image credit: Getty Images
The week saw the passing of a year since the last time Tottenham made a signing, and Lucas Moura was on the periphery of the action here. The heat has stepped up on Pochettino, but Tottenham are hanging onto the coat-tails of both Manchester City and Liverpool.
They have winnable games against Burnley and Leicester next week coming up before Kane is likely to return. The new stadium is somewhere on the horizon, but likely to be opened before the end of the season. What a shot in the arm that could bring, and you just never know. Neither City or Liverpool have looked particularly clever defensively of late.
With Llorente coming on for Moura, the Spaniard gave Spurs a focal point, as seen in Son's decisive strike, as he took the target man's chest down, opened his body up to take the ball to his right and fire his shot under Martin Dubravka with seven minutes left on the clock.
Benitez laments 'avoidable' winner
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2019/02/02/2514898-52196670-2560-1440.jpg)
Rafael Benitez knows how close his side came to taking all three points
Image credit: Getty Images
He knew he had to stand up and be counted on this bitterly cold afternoon in north London. Up until then, he had fleeted in off the left to little affect, seen speaking with Pochettino on the touchline moments before his strike during a break in play.
This was another demonstration of Newcastle's resilience, four days after their stunning win over City, and the game plan very nearly worked. They were not without their own chances, too, with Salomon Rondon striking the post with a second-half header from DeAndre Yedlin's cross, and Ayoze Perez also forced Hugo Lloris into an acrobatic save to his left.
Rafa Benitez said: "We did well for a while in the first-half. The chances were there in the second-half but we needed to be better on the ball. They were pushing really hard but we were defending really well.
It was a goal on another week we can avoid. We have to give credit to Son for the shot, but we could do better. It was not just one mistake that we will have to analyse.
"The team as a performance was fine. We could've scored but hit the post, so that could've been enough for the win. They have some of the best players in England and that was the difference."
Moura missed a free header from Erik Lamela's cross after 17 minutes. The Brazilian had the freedom of the penalty area, but missed by quite some distance, without the linesman's flag to spare his blushes.
Lamela then had an instinctive duck of the head from Jan Vertonghen 's cross, but his effort bounced back out off the angle of crossbar and post.
Tottenham ride their luck
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2019/02/02/2514894-52196590-2560-1440.jpg)
Salomon Rondon strikes the post with his header at Wembley
Image credit: Getty Images
Newcastle were not without their own moments going forward as Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen were both forced to produce blocks to deny Ayoze Perez and Rondon in a rare burst foray from the Magpies.
With the opening period petering out, Moussa Sissoko's volley from Kieran Tripper's corner was parried back into the danger zone by Dubravka, but the Newcastle defenders were quickest to react to the rebound.
Rondon might have put Newcastle ahead when he saw his header come back out off the post, and Spurs' frustrations grew after Fabian Schar hacked Eriksen's sublime touch over Dubravka off the goal line.
When Lloris saved from Perez, Pochettino might have been content with the point, but after Llorente fluffed a header from another inviting Eriksen cross, the former Swansea forward made amends to set up Son for the winner.
'Son has felt the love of the club'
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2019/02/02/2514886-52196430-2560-1440.jpg)
Son lashes in his 10th Premier League goal of the season
Image credit: Getty Images
Pochettino said: "It was a tough game because after Newcastle beat Manchester City, they were with very good momentum, and with good belief. We played on Sunday and Wednesday, so it was tough for us to recover from our efforts. I'm so happy with the players. We showed the character that we have.
He's a player that's been doing fantastic for us in the past couple of years. He's a key part of our success. It's always difficult for a player like him out of England to adapt, but as a kid he always wanted to play.
"With patience and the staff here, he's started to show his quality. He's started to feel comfortable and the love of the club, and he's started to show his real quality.
"Our squad deserves massive credit. We are a bit disappointed with the semi-final of the Carabao Cup and the Palace defeat in the FA Cup came at a really bad moment where we had to rotate.
“We were always positive with the fight but we couldn't progress. With the two victories in the Premier League this week, we are now in a very good position ahead of the Champions League.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2019/02/02/2514895-52196610-2560-1440.jpg)
Martin Dubravka lets the ball slip underneath him for Son's winner
Image credit: Getty Images
"In football, all is possible. We have to be ready for Leicester next Sunday, which will be another step. We have a decisive game against Borussia Dortmund, so I don't know why we have to play on the Sunday. They play on the Saturday, so the extra 24 hours will be decisive."
Compared to the traditional big six, Tottenham have a net spend of £13m this season, and while they continue to try to balance things financially ahead of the stadium move, the results keep defying those desperately crying out for investment.
Season-defining month for Spurs
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2019/02/02/2514893-52196570-2560-1440.jpg)
After the dip, Mauricio Pochettino will hope the performances now follow the results
Image credit: Getty Images
For all of Tottenham's 71 per cent possession in the second half, it was a goalkeeping error that cost Newcastle. They will have to be better than this if they are to sustain any faint title hopes, but after two cup exits in the space of four days, Spurs have got their season back on track.
Beating a Newcastle team who have now lost all 11 of their away matches at the Big Six since their return to the top-flight is one thing, but the next month is season-defining.
Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal at Wembley followed by Dortmund in the second leg on March 5 come after the encounters with Leicester and Burnley. With trips to City and to Liverpool ahead, whatever happens, the season is in Tottenham - and Son's - hands.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article