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Rediff.com  » Sports » Football: Son strikes as Spurs move to fifth in EPL

Football: Son strikes as Spurs move to fifth in EPL

October 27, 2020 09:30 IST
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Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min scores their first goal against Burnley at Turf Moor in Burnley on Monday

IMAGE: Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min scores their first goal against Burnley at Turf Moor in Burnley on Monday. Photograph: Michael Regan/Pool via Reuters

Son Heung-min's prolific start to the season continued with his 76th minute header giving Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win at winless Burnley in the Premier League on Monday and moving Jose Mourinho's side up to fifth.

The South Korean was left unmarked at the back post to nod home his eighth league goal of the season after Harry Kane had flicked on an Erik Lamela corner to give Mourinho's side a third win in six games.

 

Kane had saved Spurs minutes earlier with a fine piece of defending as he cleared a goal-bound James Tarkowski header off the line.

Although Spurs always looked more comfortable on the ball it was Sean Dyche's side, who have just a point from their opening five games, who had come the closest.

Ashley Barnes had a 20th minute drive ruled out for offside and then Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris got down well to stop a low drive from Ashley Westwood.

Son is now the top scorer in the Premier League and Kane is becoming a leading creator with the assist his eighth of the campaign so far.

Mourinho's approach of asking Kane to play in a deeper role, often operating just behind Son and Lucas Moura, has produced the most potent attack in the league with 16 goals in six games.

"It is great, we need everyone to be scoring and assisting at the top end of the pitch. Me and Sonny have had a nice little partnership going recently and hopefully it continues," said Kane.

"Even today it was not an amazing assist but it fell well for Sonny and 1-0 away to Burnley is a fantastic result," he added.

Kane said the win, at a venue where they failed to win in the past two seasons, was a sign of real progress for Tottenham.

"It was a massive game today, it is not an easy place to come. It is going to be a tough game, a big battle and these are the games you need three points if you are going to be up there at the end of the season. Massive fight from the lads," he said.

Burnley look set for a long season but Dyche saw some encouraging signs in their display.

"It was a very good performance, very thorough performance. There has to be belief in what we are doing and the last two games in particularly we have gone back to being what we can be like. We got done a little bit by a soft goal tonight but we quelled a lot of good attacks tonight," he said.

"Tough start to the season in all different ways. I thought the last two games it is beginning to show things coming back together. We have to keep that going."

Late Grant goal earns West Brom 1-1 draw at Brighton

West Bromwich Albion's Karlan Ahearne-Grant scores against Brighton & Hove Albion at The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton on Monday

IMAGE: West Bromwich Albion's Karlan Ahearne-Grant scores against Brighton & Hove Albion at The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton on Monday. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/Pool via Reuters

West Bromwich Albion salvaged a 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Monday after a late strike from Karlan Grant cancelled out a Jake Livermore own goal.

The result left both sides close to the relegation zone, with Brighton 16th on five points from six games and West Brom 17th on three points as their winless start continued.

Livermore was unfortunate to get on the score sheet at the wrong end in the 40th minute as a desperate clearance by team mate Branislav Ivanovic cannoned off the midfielder's face into the back of the net after Tariq Lamptey's cross.

Visiting keeper Sam Johnstone had denied Leandro Trossard and Neil Maupay before West Brom fell behind, with the latter also guilty of poor finishing in the 30th minute when his first touch let him down.

West Brom pressed after the break and twice came close as home keeper Matthew Ryan saved a piledriver from Filip Krovinovic before Matheus Pereira shaved the outside of the post with another long-range effort.

Grant, who joined West Brom from Huddersfield Town during the close season, levelled with his first goal for the Baggies when he took a deflected pass into his stride and beat Ryan with an unstoppable shot into the top corner in the 83rd minute.

Roma hit back three times to hold leaders Milan

AC Milan lost their 100 percent record in Serie A when a defiant AS Roma came from behind three times to draw 3-3 in a game featuring two controversial penalties and another Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace on Monday.

Ibrahimovic, 39, took his Serie A tally to the six from only three games, having missed two matches with a COVID-19 infection.

Alexis Saelemaekers was also on target for Milan while Edin Dzeko, Jordan Veretout and Marash Kumbulla replied for Roma.

Milan have 13 points from five games, two ahead of Napoli and Sassuolo, while Roma have eight.

Milan got off to a flying start with a goal in the second minute. Rafael Leao chipped the ball over the Roma defence where Ibrahimovic, lurking behind Kumbulla, stuck out his right leg and diverted it past Antonio Mirante.

Roma were quickly level as a debutant Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu misjudged a corner and the ball flew over him to the far post where Dzeko outjumped his marker to head in.

Tatarusanu, signed from Olympique Lyonnais, was brought into the side at the last minute after Gianluigi Donnarumma tested positive for COVID-19.

Leao also set up Milan's second goal two minutes after the break when he got away down the left and pulled the back into the area for Saelemaekers to side-foot past Mirante.

Roma levelled again in controversial circumstances in the 71st minute.

Ismael Bennacer and Pedro collided as they went for a loose ball, the referee gave the penalty to Roma amid angry Milan protests and Veretout converted.

Milan also won a contentious penalty eight minutes later when Gianluca Mancini collided with Hakan Calhanoglu and Ibrahimovic calmly scored, leaving Roma to protest.

Roma's 84th minute equaliser came from another corner and Ibrahimovic was also involved when he stuck out a leg at the near post and deflected the ball into the path of Kumbulla who volleyed in.

Aguero ruled out for two to four weeks, says Manchester City boss Guardiola

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has been ruled out of Tuesday's Champions League trip to Olympique Marseille through a hamstring injury and could be out of action for two to four weeks, manager Pep Guardiola said on Monday.

Aguero was withdrawn at halftime in Saturday's 1-1 Premier League draw at West Ham United with Guardiola confirming the 32-year-old suffered a muscular problem, only a week after making his first start of the season following knee surgery.

"It depends on the injury. We expect 10-15 days for sure minimum, or it could be three weeks or a month," Guardiola told reporters.

"When you are out for four or five months with a knee problem, you always have a risk when you come back.

"We tried to handle it the best as possible, (playing him)50-55 minutes in the games, but it was not enough to maintain it and get him through the games.

"We knew he was not in the best condition against Arsenal but without strikers that we had, it was important that he played 60 minutes. We have to be calm and hope he recovers as quickly as possible."

Guardiola confirmed midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and defender Aymeric Laporte were available for Tuesday's clash in France, while new signing Nathan Ake (groin) and striker Gabriel Jesus (thigh) were edging closer to their return.

"Nathan is so close to come back, Gabriel is 7-10 days to coming back," he added.

City lack an experienced centre forward against Andre Villas-Boas's Marseille in the absence of injured duo Aguero and Jesus.

When asked if the Etihad club could have bought a striker in the close season to add more options, Guardiola said: "Maybe we considered it and thought about it and another type of striker, but we could not.

"You know when you decide to buy a striker they have to be at the level of Aguero and Jesus and we could not afford it. This is the reality."

Two positive in latest Premier League COVID-19 tests

The Premier League said on Monday that two people had returned positive results in its latest round of COVID-19 tests conducted on players and staff last week.

The league said the individuals who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus would now self-isolate for 10 days.

"The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday 19 October and Sunday 25 October, 1,609 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19. Of these, there were two new positive tests," the Premier League said in a statement.

A total of 44 people have tested positive for the virus in eight rounds of testing since the new league campaign began on Sept. 12.

There have been more than 900,000 COVID-19 infections and over 44,000 deaths in the United Kingdom, according to a Reuters tally.

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