Son double as Tottenham beats Leicester 3-1 in push for CL




Tottenham's Son Heung-min, left, celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London, England, Sunday, May 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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LONDON (AP) — Son Heung-min’s double after Harry Kane’s header gave Tottenham a 3-1 victory over Leicester on Sunday that kept the Champions League-chasing side two points behind north London rival Arsenal in the Premier League.

The South Korea forward curled a 20-yard (meter) effort into the top corner in the 79th minute to seal a brace that moved him onto a career-high 19 Premier League goals in a season. He is only three goals behind Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah in the race for the Golden Boot.

Tottenham is still trying to overhaul Arsenal from fourth place in the remaining four games that includes their derby meeting on May 12. Arsenal won 2-1 at West Ham on Sunday.

Son provided Tottenham’s opener in the 22nd minute by delivering a corner for the unmarked Harry Kane to head into the bottom corner to end a five-game goalless run.

It also was Tottenham’s first attempt on target in 221 minutes.

The hosts struggled for another sight of goal until the hour mark when they doubled their lead.

Cristian Romero was the architect as he produced a crunching tackle on Caglar Soyuncu on the halfway line which set Dejan Kulusevski free and the Swede raced clear and teed up Son, who found the bottom corner.

Son’s second came after he picked up the ball on the right, cut inside and curled a shot high into the net.

Leicester scored a consolation in stoppage time when Kelechi Iheanacho sent a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

It was clear that Leicester’s focus is on its Europa Conference League semifinal second-leg match on Thursday, having made eight changes from the side which drew 1-1 with Roma at home.

With Leicester 11th in the standings, winning the competition is the only way back into Europe next season.

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