Son and Kane are back in the groove
WHEN Heung-min Son and Harry Kane find their groove like this, it’s hard to imagine goals might ever be scarce at Tottenham. Or that there is work to do if they are to clinch a return to the Champions League. Kane opened the scoring after six weeks without a goal in a Spurs shirt and Son added two more in the second half, saving the best until last, a delicious shot curled into the top corner from outside the penalty box. Antonio Conte had already warned Son he was about to come off when he produced his moment of magic and the Korean received a standing ovation when his number went up and he was replaced by Steven Bergwijn. ‘Great player, fantastic player,’ beamed Conte. ‘I gave him a big hug after an amazing goal because I wanted to ask which is his favourite foot, right or left, and because about three minutes before the goal, I spoke to him and said in five or six minutes I have to make a change. ‘I said: “I wanted to make a change and you decided to score this amazing goal” but what is important is that at the end of the season we celebrate a big achievement as a team.’ Son extended his Premier League tally to 19 this season. Only Liverpool’s Mo Salah, with 22, has more. ‘It’s not important for me,’ said Son, when asked about chasing down Salah. ‘The Golden Boot is always a dream but the team is most important. We want to finish in the Champions League. I want to play in the Champions League.’ Next up is Liverpool on Saturday, followed by a derby against Arsenal, both of whom are unlikely to be as accommodating as Leicester, who made eight changes to the team that started the first leg of the Europa Conference semi-final against Roma with Thursday’s return in mind. Kelechi Iheanacho pulled a goal back in stoppage time, a low drive from 25 yards that beat Hugo Lloris. ‘It’s the nature of our season,’ said boss Brendan Rodgers of the changes. ‘It’s been riddled with injuries and we can’t afford to risk the players coming back playing three times in a week. Our schedule has been so heavy and we could go into extra-time on Thursday.’