Tottenham 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 2: Son double and Kane penalty seal nervy win after ten-man rivals score late goal
TOTTENHAM fans have not seen enough of Son Heung-min’s trademark camera-pose celebration this season for their liking.
But on Wednesday night, the South Korean was picture perfect.
A shock early goal shipped to Daichi Kamada proved to be merely a jolt to the Spurs system as Son led a blistering, first-half fightback.
He levelled on 20 minutes with a fine finish - celebrating by taking his black armband off and pointing it to the sky in tribute to Tottenham’s beloved fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone who passed away last week - before Harry Kane put the hosts ahead with a penalty.
Confidence was clearly coursing through Son’s veins at that point as he thumped home an awesome volley to make it 3-1 with nine minutes to go to the break.
He ran to the corner shaking his hand as if to say his shot had been too hot for goalkeeper Kevin Trapp to handle - which it most certainly was - before striking his snapper routine in front of the cameras.
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Antonio Conte, meanwhile, went even more nuts on the touchline than normal as he raucously celebrated the goal with his backroom staff.
The Italian surely knew then that his Spurs were on their way to a huge three points which would put them top of Group D.
Tuta’s rapid-fire red card after the break looked to ensure it, though a late Faride Alidou header ensured a nervy finish, which should have been extinguished by a second spot-kick for Kane which, amazingly, he blazed over.
It was breathless stuff but in the aftermath Conte's main takeaway was that his favourite Son was looking back to his best.
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It has been a curious start to the season for Tottenham’s No7, who shared last term’s Premier League golden boot with Mo Salah after hitting 23 goals.
He began it back in his home country during Spurs’ preseason tour of South Korea, where Conte gave the local press what they wanted by mimicking Son’s camera pose alongside the forward at a packed-out press conference in Seoul.
But when the stuff that really mattered began, Son looked strangely sluggish, failing to net in his opening eight games and struggling to make an impact.
It led to him being benched against Leicester before the international break, to which he responded in remarkable style by hitting a 14-minute, second-half hat-trick as a sub.
Yet that was followed up by blanks against Arsenal, Frankfurt last week and in the win at Brighton on Saturday, meaning that maybe his early-season malaise was not quite over.
But on Wednesday, he was electric in everything he did.
That rapid pace which has been synonymous with his game but lacking at times this term was back and caused Spurs’ German guests all sorts of problems.
Frankfurt may be inconsistent, as proven by a win over Bundesliga table-toppers Union Berlin and a loss to the division’s bottom side Bochum either side of last week’s stalemate at home to Spurs.
But in Europe, and particularly on the road, they are no mugs.
They did not lose at all away from home during their triumphant Europa League campaign last term, winning at Real Betis, Barcelona and, memorably, West Ham.
Oliver Glasner’s side had also already won at Marseille this season too.
So when Eric Dier’s gaffe paved the way to the visitors taking an early lead, one wondered if another famous win on the continent was on the cards.
England man Dier failed to control a routine pass from Cristian Romero, allowing Jesper Lindstrom to seize the ball.
Hugo Lloris managed to push away the Dane’s cutback, but only into the path of Sebastian Rode, who squared it for Kamada to find the net.
It was a blow but Spurs have been impeccable at home so far this season, winning all five of their games, and they did not panic.
Within six minutes, they were level thanks to the old Kane-Son combo.
Emerson Royal, often maligned by Spurs fans, should take credit too for feeding Kane, who played the ball through to the fleet-footed Son.
The 30-year-old’s excellent first touch got it out of his feet and his rolled finish past Trapp belied a man who has struggled to find the target this term.
It was the 50th goal combination between Kane and Son in all competitions, further solidifying their position as the deadliest duo in Premier League history.
Son possibly should have had a penalty moments later when blocked by Kamada, but referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande waved away his protestations.
The Spanish whistler then bafflingly denied Kane a spot-kick soon after when the England captain had clearly been felled by Kristijan Jakic.
Luckily, VAR intervened and instructed the man in the middle to look at the pitchside monitor. He did and eventually came to the correct call.
Kane has had his joint-best start to a Premier League season with eight goals in his opening nine matches, but had failed to score in all three of Spurs’ Champions League games.
If there was any resulting pressure on his shoulders as he waited to take his penalty, there was no sign of it.
Trapp went the right way, diving low to his left, but still got nowhere near it.
Son then added some serious sauce to the comeback with his exocet volley from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s lofted cross.
Spurs’ star from the Far East was simply too good for Frankfurt’s backline, summed up by Tuta receiving two yellow cards in three minutes after the break for fouls on the ex-Hamburg man.
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Alidou’s late header sparked some drama at the death, made all the more mad by Kane firing over from 12 yards after Bryan Gil had been felled.
The craziness was eventually brought to a close with Spurs holding on to the win thanks to Son's timely return to the limelight.
