Heung-min Son

BIRMINGHAM — Son Heung-min struck a superbly taken hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur took a grip on fourth place, romping to a 4-0 win at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday.

With Arsenal losing earlier on Saturday, Spurs have a three point lead over their North London rivals with 57 points from 31 games - the Gunners have played one game less.

South Korean Son fired Spurs ahead in the third minute when a blocked shot from Harry Kane fell to him on the edge of the box and his first time, left-foot, shot flew in off the inside of the post.

LONDON - Tottenham Hotspur moved into the Premier League top four after a second-half blitz of goals from Matt Doherty, Son Heung-min, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn fired them to an emphatic 5-1 home win over Newcastle United on Sunday.

Spurs are now level on 54 points with Arsenal but their London rivals have two games in hand and can move back into fourth place when they visit Crystal Palace on Monday. Newcastle are 15th with 31 points, nine clear of the relegation zone.

Harry Kane was at his magnificent, glorious best on Saturday as he scored a brace to hand Manchester City its first Premier League loss since Oct. 2021. There aren’t enough adjectives in the dictionary to describe how entertaining Tottenham’s victory at Etihad Stadium was.

In the span of three minutes Manchester City’s players went from thinking they had scored a game-tying penalty kick in the 92nd minute to picking the ball out of their own net after Kane did what he does best.

LONDON - Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool raised the spirits with a rip-roaring 2-2 draw in a pre-Christmas Premier League classic on Sunday after a weekend marred by COVID-19 related postponements.

A mistake by Liverpool keeper Alisson gifted Tottenham's Son Heung-min a 74th-minute equalizer the hosts fully deserved although the visitors were fuming about some contentious decisions.

HONG KONG - Son Heung-min struck with less than two minutes remaining to earn South Korea a dramatic 2-1 win over Syria in Ansan on Thursday as Paulo Bento's side maintained their unbeaten start in Group A in the final phase of Asia's World Cup preliminaries.

Son swept the ball home from close range in the 89th minute, five minutes after Omar Khribin looked to have secured a share of the points for the Syrians in a game dominated by the hosts.

Who needs Harry Kane? Well, Tottenham, because on the evidence of Sunday’s 1-0 win over Manchester City new manager Nuno Espírito Santo has already had a transformative effect on the defense. And also City, because on Sunday's evidence they desperately need a striker.  

With Kane left out of the squad entirely due to his very public dalliances with City, Spurs produced an electric performance from front to back with Japhet Tanganga going toe-to-toe with Jack Grealish, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg flying into tackles and Lucas Moura always excellent in possession. 

In a dressing room like Tottenham's, it's not enough to have the stars on your side. The kind farewells to José Mourinho from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, Spurs' two best players, don’t mean much if the rest of the squad doesn't follow their example. 

José Mourinho, according to The Times on Wednesday, could have been sentenced by the fears of the board, led by Daniel Levy, that the Portuguese had lost control of the dressing room, and thus compromised the short-term objectives: the Carabao Cup final and the qualification to European competitions next season.

OSLO — The son of Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has weighed in on his father's spat with Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho after the Norwegian coach said he wouldn't feed his son if he simulated an injury.

The row erupted following Sunday's 3-1 win in the Premier League for United when Solskjaer senior criticised Spurs attacker Son Heung-min for exaggerating a blow to the face.

Harry Kane scored two and assisted two, Gareth Bale got a brace of his own and Son Heung-min provided one assist as Tottenham’s in-form front three fueled a 4-1 hammering of Crystal Palace on Sunday. 

It was a complete performance from Spurs, who opened the scoring in the 25th minute after Lucas Moura poked it off Luka Milivojević and into the path of Kane. The English striker advanced towards goal before squaring to Bale for the tap-in.