Football: ‘I needed those goals’, admits Son as his double fires Spurs past Preston in FA Cup

PRESTON, England – Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min admitted he “needed those goals” as he returned to form with two strikes in their 3-0 win over second-tier Preston North End in the FA Cup fourth round, with debutant Arnaut Danjuma also on target.

South Korean Son has endured a lean season, but made the difference at Deepdale on Saturday with two superb goals after the break as the visitors moved comfortably through to the next round.

Five minutes into the second half, the ball was played to Son outside the penalty area and he struck an unstoppable curling left-foot drive low into the corner of the net.

It was only his second goal since mid-October. But 19 minutes later he struck again, turning smoothly on the edge of the box from Ivan Perisic’s pass and firing past Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.

“I needed those goals for my confidence. It was really important. It was the kind of position I like to shoot,” Son, who has eight goals for Spurs in all competitions this season, told the BBC.

“In the first half, I had a couple of chances to shoot but the goalkeeper made a good save.

“As a striker or as an attacking player, the important thing is that you get that goal. It’s important that I could help the team go to the next round.”

Tottenham assistant manager Cristian Stellini added: “Sonny is a great player.

“He has to wait for the right moment to find the space. He was very focused on the match. He had to wait for a right time to do a good job.”

Apart from a brief spell in between Tottenham’s goals, Preston rarely troubled the away side, who did not even need to bring leading scorer Harry Kane off the bench.

Kane was unwell during the week, having scored the winner at Fulham to become the club’s joint all-time top scorer with 266 goals, matching the tally of the legendary Jimmy Greaves.

Dutch forward Danjuma, who signed for Spurs on loan from Spanish club Villarreal last week, came off the bench to score his side’s third with a close-range finish.

Preston boss Ryan Lowe told the BBC: “We had a plan to get behind them a little bit more. We wanted them to go around us and not through us. If you get to 0-0 at 70 minutes, maybe they change their plan.

“We could have done a little bit better with the ball, but we were fantastic without it.”

Son, meanwhile, hoped the win will give Spurs a fillip moving forward. He said: “We can still improve so much. I think this game can give us good energy and let’s move on to next weekend.” REUTERS