adminTottenham wins behind the ‘Sonke duo’ but falls short of qualifying for Europe.
Tottenham ran out convincing 4-1 winners away to Leeds United in the 38th round of the 2022-2023 English Professional Soccer Premier League final at Elland Road in Leeds, England, on Sept. 29 (ET).
The Premier League is a 20-team competition with first through fourth place qualifying for the European Champions League, fifth and sixth place qualifying for the Europa League, and seventh place qualifying for the Europa Conference League. Tottenham, who were in eighth place before the game, needed to move up to seventh place to qualify for European competition.
The ‘Sonke Duo’ shared the first goal… Tottenham’s final victory
Desperate for a win, Tottenham went with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min as their top two strikers, and the goals came early.
In the second minute of the first half, Son set up Kane in the box with a perfect pass, and the Englishman rattled the net with a right-footed shot. It was Kane’s 29th goal of the season and Son’s sixth assist.
Leeds, who were just as desperate for a win as Tottenham to avoid relegation to the second tier, fought back but were unable to find the back of the net, with several shots going just wide of the target.
Instead, Tottenham grabbed a second in the second minute of stoppage time. Kane used a fantastic individual effort to beat two defenders before feeding Pedro Foro, who curled a right-footed shot into the corner of the net to give Spurs a 2-0 lead.
Leeds, who were forced to make a number of substitutions, pulled a goal back in the 23rd minute through Jack Harrison, but Tottenham made it 3-1 two minutes later when Kane rattled the net again, this time from a pass from Foro.
With the game in hand, Tottenham scored a late consolation goal in stoppage time from Lucas Moura, who has decided to leave the club at the end of the season. The Spurs players rushed to congratulate Moura and bid him a fond farewell.
But Tottenham weren’t smiling… ‘Failed’ to qualify for Europe for the first time in 14 years
The game ended in a 4-1 victory for Spurs, and Son, who added an assist, has now scored 10 goals and provided six assists in the Premier League. Add to that two goals in the Champions League and two in the FA Cup, and you have a total of 14 goals and six assists for double-digit attacking points.
Most notably, he reached a milestone this season when he scored his 100th Premier League goal. To date, Son is only the 34th player to score 100+ goals in the Premier League, the 14th foreigner, and the first Asian player.
Tottenham, however, did not have the last laugh. At the same time, seventh-place Aston Villa defeated Brighton 2-1, confirming Spurs’ eighth-place finish. This means Spurs have not been invited to compete in Europe in 14 years, since the 2008-2009 season.토토사이트
With the Premier League title out of the question, and their last hope of qualifying for Europe, Spurs will have a busy transfer market this summer.
Speculation is already rife that ambitious star striker Kane will leave for a team that can compete for the title. Spurs are on the hunt for a new manager, and if Kane leaves, Son Heung-min will have to make a big change.
It will be interesting to see how Tottenham rebuild after their disappointing results this season.