Son Heung-min (32, Tottenham Hotspur) scored his 15th goal in the league, putting his team in fourth place. It was a valuable finishing goal that he scored through Daiki Hashioka (25, Luton Town), a defender of the Japanese national team.
Tottenham defeated Luton Town 2-1 in the 30th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League (PL) held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England at 0:00 on the 31st (Korea time).
Tottenham, which had a thrilling come-from-behind victory, scored 56 points to regain fourth place. It has the same points and goal difference as Aston Villa, who are in fifth place, but is one goal ahead of them in multiple points.
Tottenham brought up the 4-2-3-1 formation. Son Heung-min, Timo Werner-James Madison-Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma-Pape Sarr, Destiny Udogi-Radou Dragucine-Christian Romero-Pedro Porro and Guglielmo Vicario started.
Luton started with a 3-4-2-1 formation. Tahit Chong, Carlton Morris-Andros Townsend, Ross Barkley-Feliller Doge music sales – Luke Berry – Alfie Dowty, Teden Mengi – Lis Burke – Issa Cabore and Thomas Kaminsky made the roster.
Tottenham was dragged away with a run three minutes into the game. Townsend broke through Bissouma in a counterattack and crossed into the box. Barkley, who received it, passed it to the left without greed, and the gun shook the net with an accurate left-footed shot.
Werner missed another crucial opportunity. In the 15th minute of the first half, Kulusevski sprayed a long pass into the back space on the left. Werner caught the ball and shook off the defense with a quick turn dribble. It was a perfect one-on-one opportunity, but Werner’s left-footed shot slightly missed the side of the net.
Son Heung-min hit the ground due to bad luck in the net. In the 19th minute of the first half, Son Heung-min received a pass from Kulusevski, broke down the defensive line, and shot past the goalkeeper who ran out. I wondered if it would be his 15th goal in the league, but the ball hit the right post and hit the left post. The ensuing shots by Werner and Sarr were also blocked by the defense wall.
Tottenham tried hard to score an equalizer, but rarely earned an income. He tried to break Luton’s ten-back by attacking from the side, but there were frequent pass mistakes. Son Heung-min’s through pass in the 27th minute of the first half was also inaccurate.
Barkley was warned of a dangerous tackle. He tried to take the ball from the midfield in the 31st minute when he knocked Madison down with a deep tackle and hit it again with his right foot. The referee took out a yellow card.
Tottenham couldn’t open the Luton goal for 45 minutes in the first half. In the 33rd minute of the first half, Son Heung-min turned well and hit quickly to create a counterattack opportunity, but it was canceled due to Werner’s miss in the pass. Tottenham will continue its scoreless record in the first half of six consecutive games.
Both teams used replacement cards at the start of the second half. Tottenham excluded Kulusevski, who was sluggish in the first half, and added Brennan Johnson. Luton replaced Burke with Japanese national defender Daiki Hashioka. The “mini-Korea-Japan match” was made in which Japanese defenders stopped Son Heung-min.
Tottenham brought the game back to square one. In the 6th minute of the second half, Johnson exchanged a one-two pass with a prisoner on the right side and made a low and fast cross towards Werner running in from the other side. Cabore tried to clear the ball and kicked it into his goal. Manager Enzi Postecoglou’s mercenary skills worked.
Son Heung-min swallowed his disappointment. In the 11th minute of the second half, Poro quickly penetrated the right side and kicked a ground ball early cross. Son beat Hashioka at speed and connected the ball with a shot. However, the ball was blocked as it headed straight for the goalkeeper.
Tottenham continued to drive. When Son Heung-min came down with his defense, Sarna Madison used the space to attack. In the 17th minute of the second half, Johnson dug into the right side of the box again and crossed it to the other side, but Cabore cleared it well. After a while, Madison’s shot following Son Heung-min’s pass was caught on the defensive wall.
Luton counterattacked. Jordan Clark connected the ball that flowed after the corner kick attack in the 20th minute of the second half with a bold mid-range shot. It was a sharp trajectory towards the corner of the goal, but Vicario blew himself away and cleared it.
Tottenham missed the come-from-behind goal by a short margin. In the 23rd minute of the second half, Johnson put his foot on the cross that Giovanni Locelso gave from the left side of the box. It was a shot right in front of the goal, but the ball was deflected off the goalkeeper’s hand. I wanted to go into the goal as it was, but the defense cleared it just before crossing the goal line.
Son Heung-min saved Tottenham. In the 41st minute of the second half, Son Heung-min quickly drove the ball up from a counterattack opportunity and passed it to the left space. Werner put a ground ball cross into the box, and Johnson reached out and gave it back. Son Heung-min shot right away, and the ball deflected as it went between the Hashioka legs and shook the net.
It was Son’s 15th goal in the league, which he scored after many twists and turns. With this goal, Son has secured 160 goals overall for Tottenham, and has become the fifth-highest scorer in the club’s history, beating over Cliff Jones (159 goals). He trailed Erling Holan (18 goals), the top scorer, by three goals, further heating up the competition for the top scorer. 퀸알바
After finishing his job, Son was replaced by Pierre-Emile Hoivierre and left the stadium immediately after the goal. Tottenham’s home fans greeted him with a standing ovation. Tottenham managed to survive the extra nine minutes without losing a point, securing three valuable points.