Son Heung-min thrived on responsibility against Preston – Cristian Stellini
- last year
Tottenham assistant coach Cristian Stellini believes Son Heung-min thrived on the extra responsibility he was given in Harry Kane’s absence on Saturday night as his second-half brace powered Spurs to a 3-0 FA Cup win at Preston.
Record-chasing Kane was kept in reserve on the bench after suffering with illness in the days since he moved level with Spurs great Jimmy Greaves on 266 goals for the club.
With Richarlison also missing out at Deepdale due to an adductor problem, it fell to Son to lead the line alongside Dejan Kulusevski and Ivan Perisic.
The Korean answered the call with two fine goals in the second half before the on-loan Arnaut Danjuma marked his debut with a late third off the bench.
Son has struggled for goals this season, certainly compared to the standards he set by netting 24 last terms.
His brace here took him to eight for the season but he had only one since October coming into the night and had only scored in three of his 30 appearances, five of his goals coming in two games.
“He’s a top player, he only has to wait for the right moment and to feel comfortable, to find the space to attack and to play one v one often,” Stellini said. “This evening it was a good game from him.
Record-chasing Kane was kept in reserve on the bench after suffering with illness in the days since he moved level with Spurs great Jimmy Greaves on 266 goals for the club.
With Richarlison also missing out at Deepdale due to an adductor problem, it fell to Son to lead the line alongside Dejan Kulusevski and Ivan Perisic.
The Korean answered the call with two fine goals in the second half before the on-loan Arnaut Danjuma marked his debut with a late third off the bench.
Son has struggled for goals this season, certainly compared to the standards he set by netting 24 last terms.
His brace here took him to eight for the season but he had only one since October coming into the night and had only scored in three of his 30 appearances, five of his goals coming in two games.
“He’s a top player, he only has to wait for the right moment and to feel comfortable, to find the space to attack and to play one v one often,” Stellini said. “This evening it was a good game from him.