'8 goals against Man City' without SON
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Without Son Heung-min (32, Tottenham), who was strong against Manchester City, Spurs were lethargic. They managed just one shot on goal and lost the game.
Tottenham fell to their knees in a 0-1 home loss to City in the fourth round (round of 32) of the 2023-2024 FA Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Sunday.
'Team captain' Son Heung-min was called up to the South Korean national soccer team under Jürgen Klinsmann earlier this month. He will be away for the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar. In his absence, Tottenham faced the English Premier League (EPL)'s second-ranked team, Man City, and failed to achieve the desired result of advancing to the round of 16.
Son's absence was a huge blow, as he was in peak goal-scoring form, scoring 12 goals in 20 EPL games this season before being sent off.
He was also very strong against City. According to soccer stats site Transfermarkt, Son has eight goals and four assists in 18 career games against City. That's just shy of Harry Kane's (Bayern Munich) five goals and three assists in 16 games, who was Tottenham's "signature striker" until last season.
On the day, City had 18 shots, five on target. They converted one of those into a goal. Tottenham, on the other hand, had an astounding one shot on target. A complete humiliation at home.
Spurs tried to turn the tide in the 28th minute of the second half by bringing on James Maddison, 토토사이트 who had returned from injury, but it wasn't to be. In the 22 minutes he was on the pitch before extra time, he only touched the ball six times and completed 80% (4/5) of his passes.
With the game one-sided, Spurs conceded the game-winner in the 43rd minute. Defender Nathan Ake was beaten on the edge of the box to seal the win. Kevin De Bruyne, City's "key midfield resource," came back from the left flank to head the ball in. Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario barely got a hand to it, but Ake was able to get a second shot away and rattle the Tottenham net.
Son Heung-min cheered on Tottenham in Qatar before the game.
Son, who is currently in Qatar preparing for the Round of 16 match against Saudi Arabia, posted a photo on his social media accounts on Sunday of him watching the game from what he believes to be his hotel.
In the post, Son tagged the club's official account and wrote "COYS" (Come on you spurs), a Tottenham cheer. Despite his support, the game ended in a loss for Tottenham.
In fact, it's likely that Son Heung-min will be 'winless' again this season. Now in the second half of the season, Tottenham is in fifth place in the EPL. They are eight points behind leaders Liverpool, with a bit of a gap. In the EFL Cup, Tottenham also lost to Fulham on penalties in the second round.
With no European competition this season, Tottenham's only real shot at the title was in the FA Cup, but that didn't work out either.
