Son Heung-min has said that Tottenham Hotspur must not forget the 3-0 lead they let slip against West Ham United, saying it should remain in their “hearts”.
Son Heung-Min Says Tottenham Hotspur Must Not Forget West Ham United Slip
Spurs Slip Rued by Son Heung-Min
“I would like to be celebrating the three points,” Son said. “But what happens, happens, and we lost two points. This feeling we should always have in our hearts. It is very important that never happens during this season.
“I think the lads have had a good lesson. It is just so sad. It should never happen again.”
Excellent First-half, Woeful Second
Tottenham started the game in scintillating fashion, with Son scoring in the first minute. Kane then scored twice to put Spurs 3-0 up in 16 minutes; the Lilywhites were in dreamland.
But, the tide turned in the second-half; West Ham emerged a much-improved side. Until Gareth Bale made his second debut on 75 minutes, though, Spurs were still 3-0 up. West Ham were allowed back into the game completely by Spurs’ own wrongdoings. First, Moussa Sissoko failed to jump with Fabian Balbuena who had looked to have scored a consolation for the Hammers. The next error was a calamitous own goal by Davinson Sanchez who could not glance his header away from his own goal.
Before West Ham’s eventual spectacular winner from Manuel Lanzini, Kane had hit the post and Gareth Bale squirmed his way into the box before firing wide from close.
The culmination of multiple individual errors would have given any team too many chances to get back into the match. The first-half performance was so dominant from Spurs that they should have had the game wrapped up.
Looking Ahead
Mourinho’s side were looking to secure a clean sheet before those fateful last 15 minutes ruined what was otherwise decent defensive work. In the dying minutes, Spurs’ defence completely unravelled what the front three had achieved in the first 16 of the match.
It is difficult to work out the source of the multiple errors. Often it is easy to question Spurs’ mentality, but they looked in full control in all aspects of the pitch initially.
It just took a free-kick in the final 15 minutes to start the late-goal flurry. Sissoko was not on his toes and must have switched off. Sanchez’s own goal might have been avoided with a slightly better position. These are minor details that cost the team two points.
The final goal itself was unstoppable, despite any pundit’s crash course in goalkeeping. The desire that Harry Winks and other Spurs players had shown when charging down the shot was faultless; they couldn’t get to the ball in time. The pressure even forced Lanzini into having to take a wild shot, which if retaken ten times he would not score again.
Going forward, Tottenham must continue to show their attacking flair and take the fight to teams early on. The next step is to balance the attack and defence so that they can finally start racking up clean sheets. But, from yesterday’s match, this was largely down to individual players’ mistakes, which lead directly to the goals.
Spurs must heed Son’s call to remember this painful feeling in their hearts and use it to press on with a large majority of the campaign still yet to play.
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