Son Heung-min (31, Tottenham) survived. The terrible goal drought ended when he got away from the side that held him back. Son Heung-min started in the 19th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2022-2023 season held at Selhurst Park in London, England on the 5th and scored the 4th goal in the league, leading to a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace. Son Heung-min has played 16 EPL games this season, scoring 4 goals and 2 assists. It is an unbelievable slump for him, who was the top scorer (23 goals, 9 assists) in the previous season.
Son Heung-min’s slump was also affected by an orbital fracture injury and excessive participation, but discord with side defender Ivan Perisic was pointed out as the main factor. This means that due to the problem of Perisic’s aggressive tendency, the range of activities overlapped on the left flank, reducing the space to penetrate or break through. Except for the game on this day, there was also a coincidence that Perisic missed in the game where Son Heung-min scored.
In the end, coach Antonio Conte also put a knife to the tactic after thinking about it. He, who usually prefers the 3-4-3 formation, changed to the 3-4-2-1 formation for today’s game. In particular, Son Heung-min’s movement was not limited to the left side. In fact, comparing the places where Son Heung-min touched the ball, the match against Crystal Palace was close to a free-roll, and he covered the entire ground.
The effect was well revealed in the contents of the game, except for the scoring scene. Every time Son Heung-min moved to the center, the game was easily solved. In the 22nd minute of the second half, after receiving the ball stabbed by his best friend Kane, he ran and attempted a shot from the penalty area. A minute later, the ball received from Kane was connected to Matt Doherty, leading to an additional goal. It is regrettable that it was not recorded as an official assist under EPL regulations. 스포츠토토
The positive change of Son Heung-min, who was out of the side, was also confirmed in the statistics. According to the sports statistics company ‘Opta’, Son Heung-min recorded the most this season in both ball touches (58 times) and breakthrough attempts (6 times) that day. It is a big difference in that the ball touch and breakthrough attempt until the previous game averaged only 41 times and 1.95 times per game.
However, Son Heung-min confirmed one homework besides the change in movement. The ball touch in the penalty area was 3 times, which was less than the average of 3.48 times this season. Considering the 2021-2022 season (4.68 times), when he showed off his best skills, he needs to move up a bit beyond getting off his side.