Son Heung-min suffers bad luck in match against Liverpool

Son Heung-min had no luck on Sunday (local time) in a Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and Liverpool F.C.

The 10th-round away game against Liverpool was held at Anfield on Monday. It was a chance for Son to break the South Korean scoring record in Europe of 121 goals set by Cha Bum-kun, former Bundesliga player and former coach of South Korea’s national football team, but luck was not on his side with two of his shots bounced off the goal post.

The Spurs had a good start. Early in the first half, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min managed to strongly pressure the Reds to get near to the goal post. The South Korean fired a shot from the left corner, but it deflected against the post, allowing Harry Kane to stoop low to head the ball over the line. Though not by the South Korean football star, this gave the Spurs the lead within one minute.

The Spurs forward’s another shot hit the goal post again three minutes into the second half when the Spurs were leading the game 1-0. Tottenham keeper Paulo Gazzaniga sent a long goal kick, which Son sprinted onto and outstripped two defenders, and even Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker until Son tried a powerful left-footed shot. Yet, it again deflected against the crossbar.

Tottenham allowed Jordan Henderson to make an equalizer, seven minutes into the second half, and into 30 minutes, Mohamed Salah scored a penalty after Sadio Mane was brought down in the penalty box. Though defeated by Liverpool 1-2, Tottenham’s Gazzaniga made super saves, blocking 11 out of 13 shots on target by the Reds during the game. After Monday’s match, Son said he was sorry for letting down the fans who came all this way to cheer for them. “(I’m) a bit disappointed, but we have to move on,” he said. “Next week we’re going to have another important game, so we have to look forward to it.”


Won-Joo Lee takeoff@donga.com