Gary Neville has admitted he was wrong in his assessment of Son Heung-min.
Tottenham lost 1-4 to Chelsea in the 11th round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, at 5 a.m. ET on Sunday.
The loss snapped Spurs’ unbeaten run and left them in second place with 26 points.
Son was light on his feet in the first five minutes. His line-breaking ability rattled the Chelsea defense early on.
Heung-min lined up behind the back line for a split second before diving in.
He received a pass from Pape Matasar and fired a shot, but it lacked power.
The offside flag was raised, but it set the stage for what happened next.
As expected, Son Heung-min soared over.
In the 13th minute, Destiny Udoji played a pass to Brennan Johnson.
Johnson sent an exquisite cross just in time for Son to break through. 온라인카지노
Son Heung-min opened the scoring with a light tap-in past Axel Disassi.
But he was offside. VAR showed that Son was indeed half a step ahead.
The result could have been very different if Tottenham had taken a 2-0 lead.
It would have closed the gap on Elling Holland, the league’s top scorer with 11 goals, to two goals.
Son showed off his tireless work rate, continuing to be active even after Cristian Romero was sent off.
The most disappointing moment came in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
Oliver Skip started a counterattack and distributed the ball to Son Heung-min in front of him.
With no teammates around him, Son was on his own.
Despite being pressured by four defenders, Heung-min fired a precise left-footed shot that was saved by the goalkeeper.
Son Heung-min looked very disappointed and fell to his knees to hold his head.
“He scored a goal early in the game, but it was ruled offside,” he told ‘Football London’.
He played a committed role and played his socks off.
He had a late chance but was blocked by Robert Sanchez” and gave him an 8.
The UK’s Evening Standard added: “Tireless and committed.
More so after Udoji went off.
He was disappointed to have a goal ruled out for offside and was denied by Sanchez,” and gave him a 7.
After the game, Neville told Sky Sports in the UK: “How good Heung-Min Son is playing as a striker, to be honest, I thought he was done,” according to the Express.
But he’s got his energy back, he’s back to his best.
He’s thriving in the center-forward role,” he said, admitting he was short-sighted.
Heung-min had a somewhat disappointing season last season amid injuries and tactical changes.
After winning the PL top scorer award, expectations were raised and he was criticized for not meeting them.
This season, however, he has completely blossomed in his new position and is being praised even more.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)