Leicester City, ninth in the Premier League table, welcomed Tottenham Hotspur, fifth after Arsenal and Chelsea’s wins earlier in the afternoon, to the King Power Stadium. Mauricio Pochettino raised eyebrows as he dropped Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen to the bench with one eye clearly on the midweek tie away to Barcelona in the Champions League.
Shining Son Stands Out
Pochettino has been quick to talk about his rotation policy in recent weeks. The dropping of Toby Alderweireld for the North London Derby caused surprise and tonight at Leicester he proved he isn’t afraid to drop the big names as both Kane and Eriksen were left on the bench. Lucas Moura was tasked with leading the line alongside Dele Alli and Heung-min Son and it was Son and Alli who stood out for Spurs.
First Half Livened by Son Screamer
The first half was a tepid affair. Leicester got around the back a couple of times but Hugo Lloris was not tested. Spurs attempted to get balls forward from Alderweireld and Eric Dier with little success. Both Ben Davies and Serge Aurier lacked any real quality in the final third and were both guilty of giving the ball away needlessly.
On 24 minutes, Dier found Moura in the box but he pulled the ball back to find no one in the area.
Leicester tried to get the ball out wide to Ben Chilwell and utilise his pace. On one occasion, he was found in acres of space only to allow the ball to go through his legs and out for a throw-in.
Just as the first half looked set to end all square with only three shots on target between the two teams, Son picked up the ball on the right side of the area, moved it onto his left foot and curled a screamer past Kasper Schmeichel who had no chance in the Leicester goal. That was the last ‘action’ of the first half with Spurs heading back to third in the table.
Second Half
Leicester were disappointing, with only substitute Rachid Ghezzaltesting Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal. Spurs were professional in the second half and put together some nice moves. Son and Alli, in particular, were interchanging passes and Harry Winks was linking the play together from midfield.
On 58 minutes, the front three of Son, Alli and Moura combined to give Spurs a two-goal lead and all three points at the King Power Stadium. Moura had Alli to his right and Son to his left. He picked out Son who checked back and lifted a great ball to the back post where Alli, possibly just offside, headed home past Schmeichel.
Conclusion
This was a professional performance from Spurs to lift them back above Chelsea and Arsenal into third, just six points off the top of the Premier League table.
Leicester were not at their best and looked toothless up front. They travel to Crystal Palace next whilst Tottenham have the small matter of a trip to Barcelona in a game they must win.
Kane and Eriksen made brief cameos but will be fresh and ready for the Nou Camp on Tuesday night.
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