Indispensable Son inspires Spurs
LONDON — Son Heung-min has every reason to be constantly smiling, and Tottenham Hotspur has many reasons to be thankful.
For a player so understated, so seemingly undemanding, the 26-year-old forward from Chuncheon, South Korea, has become indispensable for Spurs.
Borussia Dortmund was reminded of that in the Champions League on Wednesday night, when Son scored the opener to spark a 3-0 victory in the last-16 first leg.
It was Son’s ninth goal in 11 games against Dortmund, including his time in Germany playing for Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen.
In his fourth season at Tottenham, Son has emerged as one of English soccer’s most influential players. In the 13 games he has scored this term, Tottenham has gone on to win.
“Next time when Son scores, I go to the dressing room to shower and wait for the game to finish,” Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino quipped.
There was little for Pochettino to laugh about a month ago when topscorer Harry Kane damaged ligaments in his left ankle. But Son is helping to dispel suggestions Tottenham is overly reliant on Kane, inspiring a commanding lead over Dortmund that was secured by late goals from Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente.
Son’s contribution — 11 goals in his last 12 games — is even more remarkable considering he started the season at the Asian Games and took a couple of weeks out in January to go to the Asian Cup with South Korea.
“Son is a player that of course has a lot of quality and is a very talented player,” Pochettino said.
“But he is always available to learn, improve and listen to what you expect from him. He is capable of adapting the quality in different situations.”
He proved that at the start of the second half after Tottenham was run ragged in the opening 45 minutes at Wembley.
Pochettino showed video clips to his team during the break.
“We showed a few actions defensively and positions in the offensive situations,” said the Argentine.
“We play much better than people assess us sometimes, but you cannot fight with the perception of people.”
Within two minutes of the restart, Tottenham was in front after Dortmund left Son unmarked to volley into the net to make it four goals in as many games since returning from the Asian Cup.
“I just had to touch the ball,” Son said, praising Vertonghen, who provided the cross.
Son celebrated with a trademark choreographed handshake, but went over to Serge Aurier rather than Vertonghen.
“I feel sorry because I didn’t run to him and I ran to the other side,” Son laughed after the game, sitting alongside Vertonghen, who got his own chance to celebrate late on .
The Belgian defender raced into the penalty area to volley home an Aurier cross in the 83rd minute.
“Technically he’s just unbelievaWith ble,” Son said of Vertonghen, who was playing at left wingback rather than in central defense.
“He can play every position. He deserves a goal and an assist.”
Dortmund struggling, Llorente scored the third in the 86th when he got a slight touch with his head on Christian Eriksen’s corner.
“We lost focus,” said Dortmund’s English winger Jadon Sancho. “Son is a good player but hopefully we can handle him better in the second leg.”