Son Heung-min celebrates 2019 with goal, assist

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean forward Son Heung-min stays on an upward track in the New Year, after scoring three scores and three assists in the English Premier League in December alone. On Tuesday, he scored the third goal in the 26th minute to secure a 3-0 victory against Cardiff City at Cardiff City Stadium in the Welsh capital. That was his 11th goal in the season and the eighth in the league. In the 12th minute, he assisted Christian Eriksen's goal.

Son displayed some of his best performances, as he converted Harry Kane’s pass into a goal by trapping the ball to create a shooting space at a superb angle. Britain’s Sky Sports reported that Son found a left corner with a sharp angle from the right side of the penalty box. Son celebrated his goal with a brief dance.

Since he put on Tottenham’s uniform for the 2015-2026 season, Son has set his personal record of scoring eight goals for 21 rounds. If the trend continues, he is expected to break his personal record of 14 goals in a season. According to Sky Sports, Son’s strike rate of a goal every 124 minutes is the third shortest among players to have played at least 500 Premier League minutes this season. He has also garners strike points for five consecutive games including Cup matches. WhoScored.com, a European soccer statistics website, has picked him among the Premier League’s “best 11.”

Wednesday victory put Tottenham, which suffered a 1-3 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, back to the second place. “We have won three points from an important match following a disappointing one,” Son said. “We showed our spirit and characteristics. We deserved to win the three points.”


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com