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Despite Son Heung-min's substitution, he couldn't save the team.
Tottenham lost 1-2 to Newcastle in the 20th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2024-2025 season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on the 4th (Korea time).
With the defeat, Tottenham has only won two games (three draws and five losses) in the last 10 official matches. The league table has fallen to 12th place.
The home team Tottenham operated in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Dominic Solanke on the front line, Brennan Johnson on the second line, Dejan Kulusevski and Timo Werner on the third line, and Pape Sarr and Lucas Beribal on the third line. The defense consisted of Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Archie Gray and Jed Spence. Brandon Austin kept the goal.
Manager Enze Postecoglou was forced to exclude some of the main players from the starting line-up due to illness problems within the club. Fraser Foster was excluded from the list, and Son Heung-min, Yves Bissouma and James Madison were listed as replacements. However, Coach Postecoglou said that the exclusion of Son Heung-min was due to his schedule afterward.
The away side Newcastle faced each other in a 4-3-3 formation. Anthony Gordon, Aleksandar Isaac, Jacob Murphy on the three-top and Joelington, Bruno Guimarães and Sandro Tonali on the midfield. Fourbacks were built by Lewis Hall, Dan Byrne, Sven Boatman and Valentino Livramento. The goalkeeper's gloves were worn by Martin Dubravka.
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Tottenham seemed to lead the game early in the first half by scoring the first goal. In the fourth minute of the first half, Johnson pushed the ball to the right after Beribal broke through to the prisoner. Porro's cross was delivered to Solanke in front of the gate, and Solanke's header stabbed into the corner of the Newcastle goal.
Newcastle, who allowed the first run, struck back in two minutes to balance the game. In the 6th minute of the first half, Gordon received a pass as he penetrated into the left side of the box. Gordon's left footed shot went straight through Austin and shook Tottenham's net. In the previous situation, Beribal's pass hit Joelington's arm, and Tottenham players pointed out a handball foul, but the referee admitted the score without confirming VAR. Postecoglou was also strongly angry.
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Tottenham, who allowed an equalizer, managed to defend Newcastle's offensive with difficulty. In the 21st minute of the first half, Gordon once again tried to shoot his left foot in the box, but was blocked by Austin's defense. In the 32nd minute of the first half, Isaac hit a cross that Murphy properly pushed from the right side of the box to the center, but the ball flowed to the side of the goal.
Tottenham even allowed a come-from-behind goal. Murphy, who received Tonali's pass in the 38th minute of the first half, immediately crossed low and fast in front of the gate. The ball flowed after hitting Dragushin's leg in the center, which Isaac pushed back to turn the game around. The first half ended with Newcastle's 2-1 lead.
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Tottenham, who started the second half one goal behind, looked for a chance to score. In the 10th minute of the second half, Sar's low and fast mid-range shot, which he attempted by receiving Kulusevski's pass from the front of the box, hit the post as it was, swallowing regret.
Newcastle have also gone out of their way to widen the gap. In the 12th minute of the second half, Tonali's shot was blocked by defense, and Gordon's shot, which finished the ball that bounced back, was headed over the net.
Tottenham made the decision to put Son Heung-min in for the upset. In the 17th minute of the second half, Son Heung-min, James Maddison and Yves Bissouma were put in, excluding Beribal, Sarr and Werner.
Son Heung-min and Madison created chances, but unfortunately, they failed to score. In the 36th minute of the second half, Son Heung-min delivered the ball to Madison with a short pass. Maddison tried to curl his right foot after a short dribble into the box, when the sharply flown ball headed right to the net and hit the ground.
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Despite repeated opportunities, Tottenham's attack was rarely completed. In the 37th minute of the second half, Reguilon delivered a pass pushed by Son Heung-min in the counterattack into the box, but Johnson's last attempt from the right flowed to the left. Reguilon caught it and finished with a shot, but it went off the goal line, not the goal. In the second half of extra time, Solanke connected a sharp cross from Kulusevski into the box with a header, but it reached the upper net.
In the end, the game ended with Tottenham's 1-2 defeat.
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Son Heung-min played about 38 minutes, including extra time, and recorded one key pass, one dribble success, and three ball competitions. There was no shot.
England's Evening Standard gave Son a rating of 6 points and evaluated it as `a threatening presence in the back space of the opponent's defense line, but the pass was irregular.' England's Football London pointed out that Son made a few threatening dribbles with a rating of five, but failed to find his way.
Meanwhile, Yang Min-hyuk, who was registered in the Tottenham squad ahead of the match and was interested in his possible debut, was excluded from the list.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
