Son Heung-min had one goal and one assist, leading his team’s 3-2 victory in an away match against West Ham United FC in the English Premier League, which took place in London on Saturday.
Son exceptionally stood out in the first match Tottenham has played on the day under the leadership of Jose Mourinho, legendary coach nicknamed “Special One.” Mourinho presented a 4-2-3-1 formation, in which Harry Kane was positioned at the frontline of offense, and Son and Dele Alli, and Lucas Moura were placed at the second line.
At the 36th minute in the first half, Son received a pass from Alli, and penetrated West Ham’s defense on the left field, before shooting a cross shot to score. It was the South Korean’s fourth goal of the league in this season and the ninth goal of this season, scoring in three consecutive matches including games of the UEFA Champions League. At the 43rd minute in the first half, he penetrated West Ham’s defense on left, and passed the ball to Moura, who was rushing right in front of West Ham’s goal post, to assist Tottenham’s second goal.
“Players have been cheered up and gained confidence as we have won a game with enhanced capability in new environment,” Son said after finishing the first match under Mourinho’s leadership. Commenting on coach Mourinho’s frequent compliments on him, Son said, “I think those things are not important. What matters is how I play. The coach trusted me and let me start at the first match, and I think I played well because such things went well in today’s match.”
“I have learned many things during five and a half years under the leadership of coach Mauricio Pochettino,” he said. “I feel sorry that I did not have a proper chance to express my gratitude to him.I have made efforts to build up the backup under coach Pochettino, but I have to adapt myself to the new system.”
With Saturday’s win, Tottenham Hotspur thus ended its streak of 12 games without having any win from away games of EPL. It is the first time in 10 months Tottenham has won an away game since the match against Fulham FC in January. Tottenham has four wins, five draws and four losses (winning points of 17), and is ranked ninth overall in the league. WhoScored.com gave Son the highest score of 8.5 among the players of the two teams after the game. The BBC picked Son as the “Man of the Match.”
Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com