Hojbjerg strike
SPARE a thought for Heung-min Son this morning.
The Premier League’s joint-top scorer last season just can’t buy a goal this time round and now finds himself behind even Pierre-emile Hojbjerg in the charts.
Hojbjerg struck the kind of finish Sonny would have been proud of to give Tottenham a deserved lead late in the first half and Harry Kane, naturally, made it two midway through the second.
Son threw the kitchen sink at joining them on the scoresheet in what was perhaps his best game this season.
But, try as he might, he found Fulham keeper Bernd Leno, defenders Tosin Adarabioyo and Tim Ream or the crossbar in his way every time he let fly.
And, according to boss Antonio Conte, this barren spell isn’t affecting him solely in games.
Laughing, he said: “This is not only for Sonny in games but also in training sessions.
“Sometimes fantastic saves are made from him during the training session and he’s struggling to score.
“But I’m not worried when I see this type of performance from my players, Sonny included, I’m not worried. I know they are going to score many goals, these strikers.”
The bigger picture for Spurs is that, even without Son’s goals, they have started the season very well.
This win was their fourth in their opening six games and they are unbeaten in the other two.
The football’s not always pretty – it can be certifiably dogged at times.
And Aleksandar Mitrovic, a man who definitely isn’t having any problems finding the back of the net, scored a lovely goal late on that took the gloss off an otherwise good day for the home side. That was the big Serb’s sixth goal in six games and possibly the best yet.
But Conte’s methods are proving mighty effective, although the Italian doesn’t want anyone getting too carried away just yet.
He said: “It’s important to have great enthusiasm and be excited for the team but at the same time I have to be realistic and not forget last November the situation was problematic because we lost 3-0 at home against Manchester United.
“Then the club made a decision and if someone thinks we can cancel everything in only 10 months and we are at the same level of the other top teams this is not realistic.”
Fulham were second best throughout and created only three decent chances, with Mitrovic scoring one and forcing two excellent saves from Hugo Lloris.
Cottagers boss Marco Silva, whose side lost Antonee Robinson to an ankle injury in the first half, said: “It definitely wasn’t our best performance at all.
“We tried to be solid and compact but took wrong decisions and were not dynamic at all.”
Spurs went ahead when Eric Dier fed Richarlison and he nudged the ball into Hojbjerg’s path for the
Dane to fire home.
Former Fulham star Ryan Sessegnon was involved in the second, swapping passes with
Son, and then taking a shot, and when the ball rebounded to him he teed up Kane for an easy finish – subject to VAR approval.
Richarlison, making his first start for Spurs, wasn’t so lucky when his late goal was scratched off seven minutes after Mitrovic’s consolation.