Son Heung-min admitted Tottenham’s comeback against Manchester United on Thursday night was fuelled by “anger” from being 2-0 down just days after being mauled 6-1 at Newcastle United.
Cristian Stellini’s four-game stint as interim boss ended after Spurs fell 5-0 down at St James’ Park in just 21 minutes, with Ryan Mason asked to take charge of the team until the end of the season in a bid to turn things around.
Mason looked on glumly as Spurs fell 2-0 down against United, thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, but a much-improved second half performance saw Spurs claim a 2-2 draw after strikes from Pedro Porro and Son.
The latter has had a disappointing season by his lofty standards – the South Korean won the 2021/22 Golden Boot with 23 goals but has netted 14 fewer this time around – but linked up with old buddy Harry Kane to dent United’s push for a top-three finish.
Spurs’ fighting spirit was evident to see in the second 45 minutes, and Son admitted after the game that anger from going in behind at the break – less than a week after the Newcastle hammering – was the catalyst for turning things around.
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“We wanted to give everything and that was the dressing room speech,” Son said. “We couldn’t let the game go. We were really angry about it, we didn’t deserve to be 2-0 down at half-time.
“The last week was unacceptable and we didn’t want to repeat that. We feel really, really sorry for the performance and result and today we wanted to bring a good energy.
“We really appreciated [the fans’] support and they were fighting with us.”
Spurs’ Champions League hopes are hanging by a thread, with a top four finish still mathematically possible. However, Son will need to help Spurs win their remaining five games just to get to 68 points, and they must hope that United pick up just seven from the seven games that they have remaining.
On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Chelsea’s likely appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, the carnage at Tottenham and Harry Kane’s next steps, David de Gea and Harry Maguire’s Man Utd futures, Lionel Messi’s impending Barcelona return & more!
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Credit: 90min.com
