Pochettino makes a comparison between Son and Messi

Heung-min Son came up with a late winner against Newcastle United to secure all three points for Spurs in what could have been a frustrating case of two dropped points.

With just seven minutes left to play, he latched on to Fernando Llorente’s knockdown and produced a stinging shot which bounced just in front of Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal and found the back of the net.

Son was a menace throughout the game, as he kept the Newcastle defenders on their toes. The 26-year-old has been fantastic since returning from the Asian Cup, having scored the crucial equaliser against Watford on Wednesday night, before netting the late winner against the Magpies.

There was pressure on him to step up and deliver the goods with both Harry Kane and Dele Alli out with injuries, and the South Korean has certainly done that so far.

Speaking after the game against Newcastle, Mauricio Pochettino was full of praise for Son. He singled out his capacity to keep making sprints throughout the game, which pushed back the Magpies defenders and gave more options for Tottenham’s midfielders.

Pochettino said it wasn’t just the distance that Son was covering that was impressive but also the number of full-fledged sprints he makes over 90 minutes.

Speaking to Football.London, the Argentine said, “It’s not about the distance, it’s about the quality of the run. You can run 12km but if you don’t have sprints or beat your opponent, and depends how you run it’s not going to affect the game. The most important thing is how you run and how you affect the game and the capacity and quality.

“It’s not about distance. It’s like if you say Messi ran a lot of distance. No, but in the distance he applied the pace, or how powerful he is in the moment which made the difference. Sonny is similar, the quality is top because he has a lot of quality in his movement.”

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