Son Heung-min’s return from the A-League was a complete explosion.
Tottenham Hotspur defeated Fulham 2-0 in the ninth round of the 2023-24 English Premier League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Sept. 24 (local time).
Son Heung-min, who returned from an October A-League tour of South Korea, scored a goal and an assist in the win.
The win helped Tottenham reclaim the lead at the top of the table from Manchester City.
Son’s goal gave him 110 Premier League goals, moving him past Ryan Giggs and into a tie for 26th place on the league’s all-time goalscoring list with Emile Heskey.
For the hosts, Tottenham manager Enze Postecoglou went with a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Son Heung-min started up front, while the second line was made up of Hicharlison, James Maddison, and Dejan Koulousevski.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Pape Sarr were the third choice.
The back four was Destiny Udogie, Micky van der Vaan, Christian Romero, and Pedro Foro.
Guglielmo Vicario wore the goalkeeping gloves.
The visitors, Fulham, lined up in a 4-2-3-1.
Up front was Carlos Vinicius. Willian, Andreas Pereyra, and Bobby Reid lined up in the second line.
João Palinha and Sasa Lukic protected the back three.
The back four was, from left to right, Anthony Robinson, Tim Lim, Calvin Vesey, and Thomassy Castagne. Bert Leno was in goal.
Tottenham capitalized on their strong press to create chances.
In the second minute of the first half, after Fulham won the ball, Son Heung-min broke into the box and crossed the ball into the box.
Son immediately tried to shoot, but Leno made the save.
Referee Anthony Taylor blew for a Fulham foul on Maddison before Son’s shot.
In the 11th minute, there was a crazy save from Vicario. Fulham won a corner, and Palinha connected with a precise, powerful header that was saved by Vicario.
It was a fortunate moment for Tottenham.
In the 20th minute, Romero and Vinicius had a bit of a nervous breakdown.
A dangerous tackle by Palinha was the cause.
Palinha tried to take the ball away from Udogie, but ended up stomping on his foot.
Tottenham then trapped Fulham in the box and pounded away, but Fulham’s defensive concentration stood out.
One after another, they made good saves on the incoming players.
In the 26th minute, Vicario made an unfortunate mistake.
A missed kick in the initial buildup gave Fulham the ball. Luckily for Tottenham, Fulham didn’t capitalize.
In the ensuing Spurs attack, Joaquim tried a powerful mid-range shot from near the center of the box, but the ball was headed straight at Leno.
In the 29th minute, Tottenham’s counterattack shone.
As soon as Maddison touched the ball, Kuluczewski ran down the flank.
Maddison played a pinpoint penetrating pass to Kuluczewski, who then fed Michy Batshuayi, who was coming into the center.
He wasted no time in firing a precise inside shot that went just wide of the goal.
Son Heung-min then had another chance to shoot, but his effort was deflected wide of Leno.
Tottenham were struggling against Fulham’s solid defense, but they had their ‘ace’ in Son Heung-min. In the 36th minute, Tottenham pressed hard and succeeded in stealing the ball from Fulham. 온라인카지노
The ball was played to Heung-Min Son in the box.
After avoiding offside, Son took the ball and used a trick move to strip one of the opposing defenders to create a shooting angle.
His powerful and precise curling shot found the back of the Fulham net, where Leno was protecting.
It was his seventh league goal of the season and the 110th of his Premier League career.
The goal moved Son into 26th place on the Premier League scoring list.
He is now tied with former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey.
Prior to the game, he was tied for 27th place on the list with Ryan Giggs with 109 goals, but with one more goal, he moved up a spot.
Son Heung-min missed a header in the 38th minute.
He tried to get his head on a sharp cross, but Bessie, who was in front of him, cleared it away.
Afterward, Bessie engaged in a light-hearted conversation with Son, engaging in a playful taunt.
With the lead, Tottenham continued to push Fulham forward. This time, the attack started with Udogie on the left flank.
Udogie broke down the flank and drove into the box, where Maddison played a penetrating pass to Son Heung-min in the box, who released Udogie with a heel pass.
Udogie shot straight at goal, but was blocked by Fulham’s physical defense, and then Kulusebski tried again, but was once again blocked by the Fulham defense.
Tottenham’s scoring chances were coming to nothing.
In the 42nd minute, they missed a golden opportunity. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sent in a sharp cross from the left flank.
Son Heung-min cut in to receive the ball, but he couldn’t get a foot on it and it went in off the post.
Two minutes later, Krzysztof Kuluczewski made a breakthrough and laid the ball off to his teammate in the center.
However, the Fulham defense was able to clear it away first.
The first half ended with Tottenham holding a 1-0 lead.
Fulham brought on Raul Jimenez and Alex Iwobi at the start of the second half in search of an equalizer. Pereyra and Vinicius rounded out the scoring.
Seven minutes into the second half, Tottenham had a golden opportunity. Son Heung-min received a pass from Kuluszewski near the center of the box. He played a pass to Heung-min, who was all alone on the left flank. He wasted no time in taking a direct shot, but the ball was well wide of the goal.
In the ninth minute, Tottenham added another goal.
It was a combination of Son Heung-min and Maddison.
Tottenham continued to press hard and succeeded in stealing the ball from Fulham in a high position.
The ball was quickly played to Son, who was on the front line.
With one defender in front of him, Son passed to Maddison, who was breaking through.
With the ball all to himself, Madison finished with an accurate shot.
Madison and Son Heung-min teamed up again for their signature dart celebration.
With the extra goal in hand, Tottenham brought on Emerson Royal for Udogie. In the 17th minute, they replaced Sarr with Oliver Skipp.
Son Heung-min continued to be active up front in the 24th minute.
He received a long, pinpoint pass and threatened Fulham’s defense, but this time, Fulham was able to defend and deny him a second goal.
Fulham continued to attack in search of an equalizer.
But Tottenham’s defense kept them at bay. Van der Vaart and Romero were solid in defense.
Postecoglou made a number of substitutions in the 36th minute.
He brought on Brennan Johnson, Giovani Lo Celso, and Alech Belisse.
Son Heung-min, Hicharlison, and Maddison came off the bench. Postecoglou made the decision to rest his main players with the game on the line.
In the 39th minute, Fulham had a crucial chance.
Fulham won the ball high up the pitch and Harry Wilson played a penetrating pass to Jimenez.
Given the opportunity on the right side of the box, Jimenez fired an incisive shot that was saved by Vicario, while Ewobi’s subsequent effort was blocked by Tottenham’s physical defense.
In the 41st minute, Fulham had another chance.
Jimenez played a sensational heel pass into the box.
Tom Cairney received the ball and looked to have a one-on-one opportunity, but was denied by Hojbjerg’s defense.