Is this finally lift-off for Son's season?
DOUBLE: Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min (left) and Preston North End's Ben Whiteman battle for the ball during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at Deepdale Stadium, Preston. Pic: Tim Goode/PA Wire
Heung-Min Son hopes his superb double at Deepdale can finally give him - and Tottenham - lift-off in what has been a strangely inconsistent campaign.
The talented South Korean striker has struggled for form and confidence since sharing the Golden Boot with Mo Salah last season but was back to his best as a much-changed Spurs team turned a potentially tricky FA Cup fourth-round tie into a relatively comfortable cruise.
Son has experienced a couple of false dawns this season, scoring a late hat-trick against Leicester and bagging a Champions League brace against Eintracht Frankfurt but failed to build on those performances. This time he hopes he stays right in the groove.
"I needed those goals for my confidence," he said. “It has been a tough moment for me and the team. As an attacking player, the important thing is that you get that goal. it doesn’t matter how well you are playing, the most important thing is scoring.
"I am trying always to score and help the team and today I ended up with two goals and I'm happy I helped the team through to the next round.
"Hopefully it is not finished. I want to keep this good positive feeling for the rest of the season."
With talisman Harry Kane rested on the bench after illness, Spurs needed Son to step up to the plate - and he didn't disappoint.
He looked sharp and lively from the start and served warning of what was to come with two long-range efforts in the first half that forced saves out of Preston keeper Freddie Woodman as Spurs failed to turn their domination into goals.
But he made the breakthrough five minutes into the second half when he dropped into a pocket of space to collect a pass from Japhet Tanganga before arrowing a 30-yard shot into the far corner of the net, giving Woodman no chance this time.
And Son effectively killed off Preston with his second in the 69th minute. He had his back to goal when he controlled Ivan Perisic's pass but turned sweetly past Jordan Storey before firing past Woodman again with his left foot to take his tally for the season to eight.
Competition for attacking places has been intensified by the arrival of Arnaut Danjuma, who came on as a late substitute to score a debut goal from 10 yards from Dejan Kulusevski's pass, and that should help to galvanise Son.
"It’s always good to have someone coming in," said Son. "It’s always exciting. I can remember my first time. I was so excited to play for this shirt and it’s probably the same for him.
"I gave him a big hug to congratulate him, for all the fans as well, because everyone wanted to congratulate him. It’s a really important first step and we can see he can be really important for us. He can bring us positive things and good energy for the rest of the season."
Woodman 7; Storey 6, Lindsay 7, Hughes 6; Browne 6, McCann 5 (Johnson 78, 5), Ledson 5 (Woodburn 70, 5), Whiteman 6, Brady 6 (Fernandez 78, 5); Cannon 5, Evans 7 (Cross-Adair 90).
Cornell, Bauer, Cunningham, Potts, Diaby.
Booked: Cannon.
Forster 6; Tanganga 7, Sanchez 7, Lenglet 7; Doherty 7 (Emerson 71, 5), Bissouma 7, Bentancur 7 (Skipp 71, 5), Sessegnon 7 (Danjuma 71, 7); Kulusevski 7, Son 9 (Gil 85), Perisic 7.
Austin, Dier, Davies, Hojbjerg, Kane Goal: Son 50, 69, Danjuma 87..
Peter Bankes 7.
