0-1 shock loss to second division team Sheffield
Son Heung-min, starting game ‘silent’ in 3 games
Tottenham Son Heung-min (right) competes for the aerial ball with Sander Berge in the 2022-2023 FA Cup Round of 16 against Sheffield United held at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England on the 2nd. Sheffield | Archyde.com Yonhap News
Son Heung-min (31) started in three matches, but his team, Tottenham, failed to advance to the quarterfinals after being caught by a second division team in the FA Cup. Son Heung-min started in the 5th round of the 2022-2023 FA Cup against Sheffield United held at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England on the 2nd and played until the end of the game, but could not prevent the team from losing 0-1.
Son Heung-min, who recently played as a substitute in two Premier League (EPL) games, started as a left winger in the match and played with Hischarlisson and Lucas Mora. His hands and feet did not fit in the new attacking combination, and he fired a few shots, but was blocked by the defense or missed the goal.
Son Heung-min was the only striker who started on the day and played until the end, recording 1 shot on target, 82% pass accuracy, 3 out of 6 dribble attempts, and 1 key pass, but he did not receive a good evaluation. Football London, a professional media outlet, gave it a rating of 4, the second lowest score among Tottenham players, saying, “I played a lot, but the finish was lacking, and I couldn’t exert an influence on the game.” Whoscored.com, a soccer statistics media outlet, gave it a rating of 6.7. It is the 5th lowest score among starting players.
Tottenham struggled with Sheffield’s strong pressure from the beginning of the game and failed to score a goal. In the 20th minute of the second half, Harry Kane replaced Hischarlisson, and in the 29th minute, Dejan Klusevski replaced Mora, and Oliver Skip replaced Papesar to increase the offensive. However, in a situation where the opponent’s defense was down, the strikers tried to dribble too much, often losing the ball and failing to bring the flow.
Rather, the opening goal came from Sheffield in the 34th minute of the second half. Ndiaye, who came on as a substitute in the second half, dribbled a Tottenham defender from the left side of the penalty box, and a hard kick shook the net. Tottenham, who became desperate, launched an all-out offensive with striker Arnaut Danjuma in the 37th minute of the second half, but lacked decisiveness. Son Heung-min tried to break through the dribble from the left side of the penalty box in the second half of the extra time, but was blocked by the opponent’s tackle. In the 48th minute of the second half, Kane’s header also missed the goal.
As they were eliminated from all cup competitions with the defeat on this day, the possibility of Tottenham becoming unrelated this season has increased. In the EPL, they are 15 points behind leader Arsenal with 45 points, and lost 0-1 in the first leg of the round of 16 of the European Champions League against AC Milan (Italy) last month.