Celebrations for Son as Tottenham beat Newcastle
Celebrations for Son as Tottenham beat Newcastle

Tottenham 1-0 Newcastle: Son Heung-Min's strike fires Spurs into second


Son Heung-min again came to Tottenham's rescue as he struck a late winner to send his side second in the Premier League after a 1-0 success over Newcastle.

The South Korean marked his first game back from international duty with the equalising goal in the midweek win over Watford and came up with the goods again as he scored in the 83rd minute to break the Magpies' resistance at Wembley.

He had goalkeeper Martin Dubravka to thank, though, as the Slovakian allowed Son's shot under his body when it should have been a routine save.

Spurs were not complaining as it brought reward for their endeavour when it looked like they were going to be frustrated and maintained their strong position in the title race.

They are now above Manchester City in second, four points behind leaders Liverpool, with both teams not in action until Sunday and Monday respectively.

Newcastle put up a good showing, and saw Salomon Rondon hit a post with the header, but could not pull further clear of the relegation zone.

Spurs had also made hard work of league victories over Fulham and Watford, again winning with goals in the last 10 minutes, so were keen to get on the front foot.

They had the perfect chance to gain the early advantage, but Lucas Moura produced a shocking miss in the 16th minute.

He was left in acres of space by a failed Newcastle offside trap and was found perfectly by Erik Lamela's cross, but the Brazilian planted a free header from seven yards out wide of the target.

Son's shot finds the net
Son's shot finds the net

The hosts continued to press and came within inches of taking the lead eight minutes later as Lamela met Jan Vertonghen's cross, but his header crashed into the upright.

The pattern of Spurs attack versus Newcastle defence was set in and Moussa Sissoko tested Dubravka with a low shot, with Davinson Sanchez being muscled off the ball from the rebound with the goal gaping.

When Newcastle did venture forward they were presented with good opportunities and they almost took the lead early in the second half.

Rondon found space and met DeAndre Yedlin's cross but his header hit the same upright that Lamela found while Hugo Lloris was also forced into a good diving save from Ayoze Perez.

Either side of those two chances, though, Newcastle were reliant on a brilliant piece of defending from Fabian Schar to keep his side level. Christian Eriksen diverted a corner goalwards with a cute flick, but Schar acrobatically cleared off the line with millimetres to spare.

It looked like it was not going to be Tottenham's day as Fernando Llorente sent a free header over the bar, but Mauricio Pochettino's men have the habit of rescuing themselves late on this season and again pulled it out of the bag.

Llorente laid the ball off to Son, who was delighted to see his low shot squirm under Dubravka's body for his 10th Premier League goal of the season.

Spurs beat Newcastle at Wembley
Spurs beat Newcastle at Wembley

Opta facts

  • Tottenham have gone 29 games without a draw in the Premier League, a new record, beating Bolton’s previous best of 28 set in 2011.
  • Newcastle have lost their last eight visits to Wembley in all competitions since winning the 1955 FA Cup final against Man City – extending their record for worst ever losing run by a team at the stadium.
  • Tottenham have lost just one of their last 27 home Premier League games in February (W19 D7).
  • Newcastle have lost 13 of their last 14 Premier League games away to ‘big six’ teams (D1), since beating Tottenham 2-1 in December 2015.
  • Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min has been directly involved in 14 goals in his last 10 appearances in all competitions for Spurs (9 goals, 5 assists).
  • Fernando Llorente has been involved in seven goals in his last eight appearances for Tottenham in all competitions (5 goals, 2 assists).
  • Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente provided assists in back to back league games for the first time since March 2008 for Athletic Bilbao.

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