Tottenham Hotspur, where Son Heung-min (32) was injured, achieved three consecutive Europa League wins after a struggle.
Tottenham won 1-0 with Hishalisson's penalty goal in the eighth minute of the second half in the third round of the 2024-2025 UEFA Europa League phase against Alkmaar at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, at 4 a.m. on the 25th (Korea time). This marks Tottenham's third consecutive Europa League victory.
A big bad news occurred ahead of the game. 'Captain' Son Heung-min is out of the lineup again due to an injury. Son Heung-min suffered a thigh injury after the match against Karabakh on September 27 and skipped the A-match schedule and focused on rehabilitation for about 20 days. He then announced his return through the match against West Ham United on the 19th.
Son Heung-min, who played in his return match, showed a legendary performance of 'Inferiority'. In 70 minutes, he showed a sharp pass that led to one goal, one earned goal, and an upset goal, contributing directly or indirectly to all three goals recorded by the team. In the end, Son Heung-min was selected as the Man of the Match (MOM) after the game with the highest rating. It seemed to have fully recovered.
However, the injury damage has not completely disappeared. In the end, he did not appear in the team training ahead of the match against Alkmaar, causing concern. Concerns have become a reality. Ahead of the match against Alkmaar, coach Enze Postecoglou said, `Son Heung-min felt a little pain after the match against West Ham last weekend. We will not play against Alkmaar, but plan to watch the situation."
Tottenham, without Son Heung-min, operated the rotation. He brought in a large number of young players. Goalkeeper Fraser Forster started. The rear defense is Archie Gray and Radu Dragushin, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogi's four backs. Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Beribal and James Maddison formed the second midfield line, while Mikey Moore, Hishalisson and Timo Werner were deployed to the offensive line. Gray, Veribal, and Moore, who Tottenham is carefully cultivating, all came out as starters.
It's the best chance for young players. But the game didn't go as planned. Alkmaar's resistance was quite strong. Several times, there was a loss crisis, and each time, goalkeeper Foster's super save was performed to save the team.
Moore's header shot came out five minutes into the first half. Moore and Werner showed active movements in the left and right sides early in the game. But Werner lacked the decisiveness. He missed several goal chances. He lost good chances in the 27th and 38th minutes of the first half. Beribal's kill pass was connected in the 27th minute, but he sent it to the front of the goalkeeper in vain. In the 38th minute, the shot went up in the air. In the end, he finished without scoring in the first half.
Coach Postecoglou relentlessly excluded Werner at the start of the second half. Brennan Johnson came out instead. A good chance as soon as it comes out. In the first minute of the second half, Moore broke through the side and provided Johnson with a perfect chance. But the shot was weak.
The goal was finally scored in the eighth minute of the second half. Beribal tripped over a defender's foot while breaking through, and a penalty was declared. Madison set out to kick it, and at this time, Hishalisson expressed his intention to kick it. stick to each other Madison eventually conceded. Hishalisson boldly kicked it into the middle.
However, even after the first goal, the flow of the game did not change significantly. Rather, Tottenham allowed several threatening scenes. In the 11th minute of the second half, Dragicin caused a crisis by taking the ball away. He almost lost a point in the 29th minute of the second half. Ben Davies allowed a shot chance as he lost the aerial ball contest. But Foster saved the run with a super save.
In the 40th minute of the second half, Alkmaar's David Wolff was sent off. Nevertheless, Tottenham did not score an additional goal. The scene where Son Heung-min was clearly felt without him. Major members such as Dominic Solanke in the 19th minute of the second half and Papé Saré Dejan Klusevski in the 28th minute were also deployed, but their offense was frustrating. He had to settle for a 1-0 win in a game where he had to score multiple points.
