Son at the double to dispatch Boro
TOTTENHAM showed they are not over- reliant on Harry Kane as they maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season without him.
This was the first time since November 2014 that Spurs had started a League game without their star man, and Son Heung-Min filled the goals void.
The Korean’s first-half brace did the business, although in truth, Mauricio Pochettino’s men should have won more comfortably.
But they moved up to second, four points behind leaders Manchester City, who they face at White Hart Lane next Sunday.
Pochettino wants his team to be more ruthless in front of goal. but he couldn’t hide his pleasure for the matchwinner.
The Argentine said: “The first half was fantastic, but I’m a little bit frustrated because we created a lot of chances and weren’t clinical enough. We need to work on that.
“It’s always difficult for players who come from outside of England but after one year, Son is more mature and he knows the Premier League.
“He’s a nice guy and he always works hard. And if you work hard, football pays you back.”
It is now three defeats in a row for Middlesbrough as they begin to discover the realities of top-flight football.
Their struggles will continue if they show the opposition too much respect as in the first 45 minutes and manager Aitor Karanka made his feelings very clear.
“It’s not ability or quality but attitude,” he said. “The first half was awful but the second half was completely different. We are conceding a lot of goals but the only way to
stop that is by playing as a team. We now have one week to decide which team we want to be.”
Spurs have been busy signing their young stars up on new contracts, and one of those, Dele Alli, was quick to test Victor Valdes with a stinging 25-yard shot.
They were soon ahead and Kane’ s replacement, Vincent Janssen, had a big hand in the goal.
The Dutchman held the ball up well in the area for Son, who skipped past a flimsy challenge and beat Valdes with a low shot.
Son was too hot for Boro to handle and it didn’t take long for the 24- year- old to add a second.
Antonio Barragan and Christian Stuani failed to clear the ball between them, and Son didn’t need a second invitation as he nipped in, took aim and left Valdes rooted to the spot with a terrific curling finish.
It was one-way traffic and Christian Eriksen looked set to make it three only for George Friend to throw himself in the way of a goalbound shot, and Valdes then denied Moussa Sissoko from the follow-up.
The pressure on Boro was overwhelming, and Valdes and midfielder Adam Clayton exchanged heated words on the pitch, which did not impress Karanka.
“It’s not nice,” stated the Boro boss. “I can understand their frustrations and they are big characters but I told them at the end that it cannot happen again.”
The game should have been over by halftime after on-loan defender Calum Chambers was robbed by Eriksen in the box, but Alli lifted his shot over when he should have scored.
Karanka had to change something and introduced Adama Traore, and Jordan Rhodes just before the hour mark.
One burst of pace from Traore that took him away from three Tottenham players lifted the crowd and moments later, they had halved the deficit.
Ben Gibson climbed above Sissoko at the far post to meet Stewart Downing’s free-kick and guide a header into the bottom corner.
Boro were a different side by this stage, and Rhodes forced Hugo Lloris into a save with a header from another Downing cross.
But Spurs saw it out and now head to Russia to take on CSKA Moscow in the Champions League on Tuesday, where Pochettino hopes to bring back some of his injured players, including England duo Danny Rose and Eric Dier.