Cheers Son’s Buzzing. Nice One

“Nice One Sonny, Nice One Son.” Son celebrates his late winner for Spurs against Newcastle.

Image Credit: Eurosport

By Lee Clow

2 February 2019 | Premier League

Tottenham came up with another late winner as they beat Newcastle at Wembley.

Son Heung-min scored the winner 7 minutes before time after a costly error by Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka. The South Korean low powerful 20 yard-shot crept under the Newcastle goalkeeper’s body to give Spurs a vital 3 points to keep them in the hunt for the title. Son has now scored two goals in two games since his return from the Asian games and nine goals in his past 10 Spurs appearances.

It was a very entertaining clash with Spurs piling on huge pressure on a well organised Newcastle side who were gritty throughout. Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela missed great opportunities for Spurs in the first half, with the latter hitting the woodwork.

The second half saw Newcastle come out the blocks quickly and they nearly saw glory when Salomon Rondon struck the post with a glancing header at 0-0. Shortly after, Christian Eriksen’s saw his flick cleared off the line by Schar before Hugo Lloris acrobatically tipped away Ayoze Perez’s strike.

It looked like it wasn’t going to be Spurs’ day with chances being wasted by the home side. However, with less than 10 minutes remaining, substitute Fernando Llorente knocked down a floated ball into the path of Son who found the back of the net thanks to an error by the keeper.

The victory for Spurs now means they have set a new Premier League record as they reached 29 matches in a row without a draw, eclipsing Bolton's mark of 28 set in 2011. The victory also means Spurs leapfrog Manchester City into 2nd in the Premier League.

After the game, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino praised his players for their effort in what he describes as the ‘worst moment for us’. "Our squad deserve massive, massive credit. We are disappointed because of the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, out of the FA Cup to Palace, we arrive at the worst moment for us as it was difficult to rotate and keep the same level in all of the different decisive games." Pochettino continued "It was difficult to find space. We created some chances in the first and second half but the most important thing in the end is to keep pushing and it was a massive effort again in the second game consecutively. Once again, I need to praise my players.”

Rafa Benitez also spoke after the match regarding his Newcastle side. "We did well for a while in the first half, we had the chances in the beginning of the second half. We defended well, but the problem for us is conceding this kind of goal. You could concede another one, but this one we could avoid."

What’s next?

Tottenham play their third consecutive league at Wembley hosting Leicester next Sunday, while Newcastle travel to Wolves the day after.