Tottenham Hotspur got back to winning ways on Sunday night as they defeated Brighton & Hove Albion at home but for the very first time this season, superstar Heung-min Son looked underwhelming and largely anonymous.
Perhaps Spurs’ congested fixture list has finally caught up with the South Korean favourite as he was invisible up against the impressive Tariq Lamptey.
Jose Mourinho’s side took the lead through a Harry Kane penalty early in the first half before they were pegged back by the aforementioned Seagulls defender.
Gareth Bale then saved their bacon within three minutes of coming on to seal all three points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Son, who had scored eight goals and provided two assists prior to this seventh league outing, wasn’t at the races at all – failing to contribute with a goal in any form.
He also managed to fire off just one shot, which was off target, as well as winning only 45% of his duels, being dribbled past twice and failing to provide a single cross from four attempts.
The €90m-rated (£82m) star managed to only make ten of 16 passing attempts too.
Football.London’s Alasdair Gold graded him a lowly 5/10 and claimed that he “struggled to make an impact for much of the game.”
Whether it was an off-night due to fatigue or just in general, it must come as a massive concern to Mourinho as one of his most influential players failed to make much of an impact.
In recent weeks, the Telegraph reported that the club were going to prioritise tying him down to a new contract, which would see a significant raise to his current £110k-per-week deal.
With performances like that, it certainly wouldn’t be justified, though it was so out of character for Son.
Lamptey, on the other hand, won six of seven duels and recorded two dribbles up against the Spurs fan-favourite, per SofaScore.
The 28-year-old was withdrawn five minutes early, which was hardly a surprise given how poorly he let his manager down – and that only goes to suggest that maybe it was him running out of steam having come on earlier than expected in midweek.
AND in other news, Gary Mabbutt slams Mourinho decision on 23 y/o who’s “got a great future”…
