Son’s quick-fire brace spares Tottenham’s blushes
Son Heung-min scored a quick-fire brace on his home debut as Tottenham came from behind to beat Qarabag in their Europa League opener last night.
The big-money summer signing was deployed as the lone striker with goalless Harry Kane rested for the visit of the Azerbaijan champions — the first time in almost seven months the England international has not started a game for Spurs.
But his replacement on the night showed why he was signed for a fee in excess of £20m as he scored two predatory goals in the space of three minutes to cancel out Richard Almeida’s early penalty for the visitors — with Erik Lamela also on the scoresheet in the 3-1 win.
Dele Alli expected a workout against the Azerbaijan champions but was happy with Spurs’ overall performance.
“I think it was unfortunate to give away the first goal but overall it was a good performance,” he said.
“They definitely weren’t going to come here and play down. They made us work for the win as we knew they would and they’re not a bad side. They came here with a point to prove and I think they did well.”
The playmaker also hailed double goalscorer Son.
“It’s always good to help the team and I’m obviously happy for Son getting his two goals and it was good to play a part in it and I’m happy with the win,” Alli said.
“He’s a top player and it’s always good to have competition with a few players that can play up front. He put in a good performance and I’m delighted for him getting his two goals.”
Lloris, Trippier, Wimmer, Alderweireld, Rose, Lamela, Carroll, Dier (Winks 75), Alli, Townsend (Njie 68), Son (Kane 68).
Sehic, Medvedev, Guseynov, Sadygov, Agolli, Ismayilov (El Jadeyaoui 79), Quintana (Michel 79), Garayev, Almeida, Tagiyev (Armenteros 67), Reynaldo.
Adrien Jaccottet (Switzerland).
Ajax 2 Celtic 2, Fenerbahce 3 Molde 3.
Bordeaux 1 Liverpool 1, Sion 2 Rubin Kazan 1.
Borussia Dortmund 2 FC Krasnodar 1, FK Qabala 0 PAOK Thessaloniki FC 0.
FC Midtjylland 1 Legia Warsaw 0, Napoli 5 Club Brugge 0.
Rapid Vienna 2 Villarreal 1, Viktoria Plzen 2 Dinamo Minsk 0.
FC Groningen 0 Marseille3, Liberec 0 Braga 1.
Dnipro 1 Lazio 1, Saint-Etienne 2 Rosenborg 2.
Skenderbeu 0 Besiktas 1, Sporting CP 1 Lokomotiv Moscow 3.
Fiorentina 1 Basel 2, Lech Poznan 0 Belenenses 0.
Anderlecht 1 Monaco 1, Tottenham Hotspur 3 Qarabag FK 1.
APOEL Nicosia 0 Schalke 04 3, Asteras Tripolis 1 Sparta Prague 1.
Athletic Bilbao 3 Augsburg 1, Partizan Beograd 3 AZ Alkmaar 2.
