EPL

Son: Leicester hammering must serve as a big lesson for Spurs

By Sports Desk February 11, 2023

Son Heung-Min knows Tottenham must learn a "big lesson" from a 4-1 Premier League thrashing at Leicester City on Saturday.

Spurs beat second-placed champions Manchester City last weekend, but they were brought crashing back down to earth at the King Power Stadium.

Head coach Antonio Conte endured a painful return to the touchline after undergoing gallbladder surgery as the Foxes came from behind to strike a blow to Tottenham's bid to secure Champions League qualification.

Rodrigo Bentancur opened the scoring, but two goals in as many minutes from Nampalys Mendy and James Maddison put Leicester in front.

Kelechi Iheanacho gave Brendan Rodgers' side breathing space in first-half stoppage time and Harvey Barnes added a fourth goal on a miserable day for Spurs, who also suffered the blow of losing Bentancur to injury.

Forward Son told BBC Sport: "We started quite well and created chances. After it was 1-1 we conceded a quick second goal and then it was open. It was a difficult game then.

"Leicester were so clinical, they almost scored every chance. It's a very disappointing result.

"I think it's very sad. We knew it was going to be a really hard game. In the Premier League it's never an easy game. It showed the Premier League has a high level. I don't know what I can say, it's very disappointing."

Son did not feel Tottenham were guilty of turning up expecting to return south with three points.

Asked if complacency was a reason for their defeat, he replied: "I don’t think [it was]. We came with a good feeling after beating City. The first minute we were really on it. We should be ready and learn something.

"Today should be a big lesson for us."

Related items

  • Football rumours: Former Celtic winger Jota could reunite with Ange Postecoglou Football rumours: Former Celtic winger Jota could reunite with Ange Postecoglou
    What the papers say

    Portuguese winger Jota is reportedly looking to reunite with his former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham, the Sun reports. However Postecoglou is unsure if the club will make a move for the 24-year-old. Jota currently plays for Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League.

    The Daily Express reports Manchester United have joined the ever-growing race to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney. Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are also interested in the 27-year-old.

    The Manchester Evening News says Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi has ruled out a mid-season move to Manchester United as he does not want to dampen his chances of being selected in England’s Euro 2024 squad.

    Social media round-upPlayers to watch

    Lucas Paqueta: Manchester City could reportedly lose interest in the West Ham midfielder if there is no resolution found over the gambling investigation into the midfielder, Football Transfers says.

    Estevao Willian: Teamtalk reports the 16-year-old Brazilian is being chased by a plethora of clubs including Manchester City, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund.

  • Dozens arrested following violence from Legia Warsaw fans at Villa Park Dozens arrested following violence from Legia Warsaw fans at Villa Park

    More than 30 people have been arrested following violence from Legia Warsaw fans prior to their Europa Conference League game against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

    Missiles were thrown at police as the visiting fans were held in the coach park near the stadium, before they were due to enter for Thursday’s group game.

    West Midlands Police said four officers were injured and although the game started on time, no Legia fans were allowed into the stadium ahead of kick-off.

    The force said in a statement following the game that 39 people were arrested after the “disgusting and highly dangerous scenes”, with one of the injured police officers taken to hospital.

    Two police horses and two police dogs were also hurt.

    Chief Inspector Tim Robinson said: “This should have been a great evening of football which was enjoyed by fans from both clubs.

    “Unfortunately, there were appalling scenes which saw away fans dangerously throw flares and other missiles at our officers.”

    He said the “extreme violence” left police with no other choice but to prevent away fans entering the stadium, adding: “The safety of everyone is our priority, and clearly we had no other option.”

    Villa and West Midlands Police both released statements before the game had finished, with the Premier League club revealing requests to the Polish club before the tie for help in preventing ticketless fans from travelling went unanswered.

    Villa said: “Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that no away fans were allowed into Villa Park for this evening’s UEFA Europa Conference League fixture with Legia Warsaw on the advice of West Midlands Police following large-scale disorder outside the stadium caused by visiting supporters.

    “The UK safety authorities, UEFA and Aston Villa, communicated on November 2 that the ticket allocation for away fans for this fixture would be reduced to 1,002 on the advice of safety authorities as a result of previous large-scale disorder caused by Legia fans last month at AZ Alkmaar.

    “A number of Dutch police officers were injured during that disorder. As a consequence, UEFA banned Legia supporters from travelling to Mostar for their game against HSK Zrinjski.

    “In spite of numerous requests for cooperation from Legia Warsaw concerning their travelling supporters, especially in the last two days, no assistance on the serious safety matter of away fans attending Villa Park was forthcoming from the visiting club.

    “The club has repeatedly, including this morning, raised concerns in conjunction with UEFA and all the relevant authorities to Legia that ticketless away supporters were attempting to attend Villa Park.”

    Villa said Legia fans “engaged in planned and systematic violent acts against West Midlands Police officers” about an hour before kick-off.

    The club added: “Aston Villa strongly condemns the behaviour of those visiting supporters and would like to thank West Midlands Police for their professionalism in very difficult circumstances.”

    In its own pre-game statement, the Polish side accused Villa of restricting access to their fans in a move it called “counterproductive and baseless”.

    It said senior executives, including the club’s owner, made the decision to boycott the game in response to the move.

    Legia coach Kosta Runjaic refused to be drawn on the disorder in the post-match press conference.

    He said: “I think its a different topic, it’s not my business. I’ve been in a big focus to lead the team. We represented Polish football in a good way, all other things outside the stadium I don’t want to comment.

    “We have great fans, they support us home and away. We can always count on them. So far since I’ve been at Legia I’ve had a good experience with our fans. I don’t know the content of it all happening.

    “I don’t know the details, which is why it’s better I don’t speak too much about it. Unfortunately our fans weren’t in the stadium and the atmosphere would have been better.

    “It’s not about the fans, it’s a pity but we can’t change it.”

  • Jurgen Klopp satisfied as Liverpool secure top spot with a game to spare Jurgen Klopp satisfied as Liverpool secure top spot with a game to spare

    Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp declared himself satisfied with the 4-0 victory over LASK which secured top spot in their Europa League group with a match to spare.

    Two goals from Cody Gakpo and one apiece from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah, his 199th for the club, saw them coast past the Austrians at Anfield.

    Toulouse’s draw with Union Saint-Gilloise meant Klopp’s side cannot be caught at the top and crucially that means avoiding the play-off round when the competition restarts in February.

    “Two top results for us tonight in the group,” said Klopp.

    “It was clear, with the defeat at Toulouse (last time out) we made it a bit more tricky but because of our result and their result we are now top of the table and that will not change.

    “That’s good, very important in the busy schedule we have from now on.

    “A lot of positives in the game, a lot of good football. The thing I didn’t like too much, and told the boys at half-time, (was) this game should have been put to bed already at half-time.

    “You cannot play better, you cannot set it up better, (but) you can finish it better obviously – but we didn’t.

    “Caoimhin (Kelleher) worked for his clean sheet, which he desperately wanted, and that’s good.

    “We scored a fourth goal in the last minute or whatever, so result top, performance really good (and) nobody got injured. All good.”

    Liverpool are favourites for the Europa League but having put themselves firmly in the title race the demands on Klopp’s side are likely to be significant when the competition resumes.

    However, the Reds boss refused to relegate Europe to a second-tier ambition.

    “Unfortunately, my career is not like this where I can choose, to be honest,” he added.

    “I have to take what I get. When we play the competition it’s the most important competition on the planet. Easy as that.

    “But now we play Premier League on Sunday (at home to Fulham) and so that is then the most important competition, definitely.

    “We want to go as far as somehow possible (in the Europa League).”

    Gakpo said the squad were determined to compete in all competitions they were in.

    “We have to keep going because we have big goals for the season. That’s it,” he told TNT Sports.

    “We just have to keep going and win as much as possible. We have a lot of quality in the group and I think with this quality we can win a lot of games.”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.