Son Heung-min netted two goals as Tottenham Hotspur narrowly defeated a select team of South Korea’s top league players, finishing with a score of 4-3 in a friendly match held in Seoul.
The match began with Dejan Kulusevski opening the scoring in the 29th minute. Following that, Spurs and South Korea captain Son made his impact felt during his homecoming. He skillfully curled a shot into the top corner in the 38th minute before slotting home an assist from Kulusevski, giving Spurs a commanding 3-0 lead by halftime.
However, Team K League mounted a comeback in the second half after making a complete roster change at the break. Stanislav Iljutcenko found the net twice within five minutes of the restart, bringing the score to 3-2.
In response to the sudden shift in momentum, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou made tactical adjustments. Substitute Will Lankshear volleyed in a cross from Timo Werner, restoring Spurs’ two-goal cushion at 4-2.
Team K League’s Oberdan pulled one back for the hosts with nine minutes remaining, narrowing the gap to 4-3. Despite a late scare when James Maddison struck the post in injury time, Spurs managed to hold on for the victory.
Tottenham is scheduled to continue their pre-season campaign on Saturday, facing Bayern Munich at 12:00 BST in Seoul.
In other pre-season action, Newcastle United triumphed over Urawa Red Diamonds with a score of 4-1 in Japan, overcoming a challenging matchup against the 2022 Asian Champions League winners.
Alexander Isak opened the scoring for Newcastle just three minutes into the match, but the hosts equalized in the 23rd minute with a backheel from Rio Nitta that found the net after bouncing off the post.
Newcastle regained the lead just before halftime when Jacob Murphy made it 2-1, followed by another goal from Murphy two minutes after the break. A fourth goal came from a deflected long-range effort by Lewis Hall.
Newcastle’s next pre-season fixture is set for Saturday against Yokohama F. Marinos, kicking off at 13:00 BST.
In a separate match, Southampton faced a setback, losing 2-0 to Championship newcomers Oxford at the Kassam Stadium. Goals from Mark Harris and Ruben Rodrigues handed the Saints their first defeat of the pre-season, as they prepare to visit Millwall on Saturday.
