Son Heung-min’s dazzling brace and Arnaut Danjuma’s debut goal sent Tottenham Hotspur through to the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 3-0 win over Preston North End.
South Korean international Son scored the first goal from 25 yards in the 50th minute to break Preston’s resistance at Deepdale.
Antonio Conte’s away team dominated throughout the match but mostly struggled to take clear opportunities, although Son once again landed a great style shot to take them under control.
Danjuma, who came off the bench in his first game for Spurs, rubbed salt in the championship team’s wounds with a third-place finish.
Our Sonny pic.twitter.com/FVmoSGsB8u
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 28, 2023
Tottenham dominated the start of Saturday’s game with Son being the most dangerous entry, forcing Freddie Woodman twice from outside the box.
However, despite all the possession, Conte’s players struggled to break Preston’s firm defensive line and were limited by efforts from distance, Dejan Kulusevski hitting over the bar.
Five minutes into the restart, the Spurs found a breakthrough when Son shifted to the left foot from a pass from Japhet Tanganga and landed a beautiful shot out of Woodman’s reach.
Preston responded well: Chad Evans worked his way through several markers to take on Benjamin Whiteman, but his shot from outside the box missed Fraser Forster’s right post.
However, the fight was quickly quelled when Son struck again and Ivan Perišić backed a heel pass into the box for number seven Spurs to turn their markers for a clean shot into the right corner.
Danjuma added icing on the cake in the 87th minute, scoring a Kulusevski pass into Preston’s net to crown a comfortable win.
What does this mean? The spurs are marching
The Spurs victory secured a fifth-round spot for the fourth consecutive season, their longest streak since reaching that spot in five consecutive campaigns from 1978-79 to 1982-83.
In a season that has been largely disappointing for Spurs, the FA Cup could offer some support and with London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal among those who have already lost, they will be imagining their chances of going all the way. for the first time since 1990. 91.
star son
Two spectacular goals were a well-deserved comeback for Son, who stood out as the Spurs’ most dangerous outing throughout the match and ended an unsettling streak in which he had only scored once in the last 13 matches.
Throughout the match, Son landed four shots, all of them on target, and his two goals came from an expected goals (xG) of just 0.18.
Perisic pulling the strings
With 48 touches, Perisic saw less of the ball than any of his starting fieldmates, but he made an impact when he had the ball.
The three chances created were the highest for any player on the field, and included a deft pass from cornerman Son that relieved the hosts of any concerns about a late fight.
Key facts about Opta
– Son scored his first FA Cup goals since February 2020 (against Southampton). Each of his last four goals in the competition came in the fourth round and it was his first FA Cup double since scoring two in a February 2018 fifth round replay against Rochdale.
– Tottenham will love this victory; however, there could be trouble ahead as they have been eliminated in the fifth round for the past three seasons.
– Preston have lost their last seven FA Cup matches against top division rivals and they have all been at home – in fact they have not won at home against a top tier side in the competition since January 1979 (3-0 against Derby County).
– This was the first time that Harry Kane has not played for Tottenham since the October 2021 match against Vitesse in the Europa Conference League, having played 68 consecutive games for Spurs. Here he was an unused substitute that Conte let rest.
What’s next?
Tottenham Hotspur will host Manchester City in the Premier League next Sunday, while Preston will face Bristol City in the league game the day before.