Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou salutes ‘world-class’ Son Heung-min
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Spurs were seconds away from being held to a frustrating draw against Brighton until Son Heung-min rode to the rescue.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou hailed “world-class” Son Heung-min after the South Korea star capped a hectic week by inspiring his club’s dramatic 2-1 English Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Feb 10.
Postecoglou’s side were seconds away from being held to a frustrating draw in north London until Son rode to the rescue. His superb cross provided Brennan Johnson with the chance to fire home in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
It was a welcome boost for Son after he jetted back from the Asian Cup following South Korea’s shock semi-final 2-0 loss to Jordan on Feb 6.
Postecoglou introduced Son and Johnson with 28 minutes left and the duo helped Tottenham maintain their top-four challenge after Pape Matar Sarr’s 61st-minute goal cancelled out Pascal Gross’ penalty for Brighton in the 17th minute.
Paying tribute to Son for his crucial cameo, Postecoglou said: “Maybe the nation he plays for works against him, but I think he’s a world-class player.
“You look at his record in the Premier League, the toughest league in the world, his goal contributions irrespective of how the team have gone through the time he’s been here have always been right up there.
“Even this year, before he left, he was probably the best attacking player in the competition, just my opinion, obviously. Certainly he’d be up there. He’s a world-class player. Richarlison obviously stepped up in terms of a goal threat, and a few other players, but to have a world-class player for the run-in is brilliant for us.”
In the day’s early game, Erling Haaland announced his return to the scoresheet in emphatic fashion with a brace to lift Manchester City to a 2-0 home victory over relegation-threatened Everton and briefly into top spot.
Pep Guardiola’s team laboured to break down the stubborn visitors at a nervous Etihad Stadium, but Haaland struck twice late in the second half. They are his first goals since returning from an absence of nearly two months due to a foot injury.
“In the first half, our body language was not good. You cannot play good football if you are not positive. You do your best when you are positive,” said City manager Guardiola.
“When you start to complain and are sad, it does not work. We talked at half-time and I told them, ‘what do you expect, to come here and win 5-0? Come on. Life is tough and football is tough’.
However, City’s sojourn at the top was ended later on Feb 10 by Liverpool, after their hard-fought 3-1 win against relegation-threatened Burnley.
Dioga Jota opened the scoring on 31 minutes, but Dara O’Shea equalised for the Clarets just before the break. Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez scored in the second half to seal the Reds’ win.
Liverpool were not at their fluent best against Vincent Kompany’s men, but did enough to get over the line on what manager Jurgen Klopp called a “super difficult” day. REUTERS, AFP
