LONDON, Aug 16: Son Heung-min made up for the absence of Harry Kane by scoring a second-half winner to give Tottenham a 1-0 win over defending champion Manchester City on Sunday in their opening game of the Premier League season.
With Kane left out of Tottenham’s team altogether amid continued speculation about a pending move to City, Son led the attack instead and showed that Spurs still have a top-class scorer to count on.
Son finished off a quick counterattack in the 55th minute and Tottenham effectively neutralized City’s many attacking threats to give new manager Nuno Espirito Santo a statement victory on his debut.
Kane’s absence was the big pregame talking point, although Nuno insisted the decision was made solely because the England striker only returned to full training on Friday after his holiday.
Kane has reportedly told Tottenham he wants to leave, with City manager Pep Guardiola previously acknowledging that his club is “very interested” in buying him.
Based on this performance, City’s expensively assembled squad could use a finisher — especially after letting Sergio Aguero leave on a free transfer this summer. City dominated possession but struggled to break down a disciplined Tottenham side, which was content to sit back and wait for opportunities to counter.
City’s record signing Jack Grealish showed early flashes of his abilities — breaking forward in the opening minutes to draw a free kick just outside the area — but missed his best chance to score when his shot from a tight angle was easily saved by Hugo Lloris in the 75th.
Riyad Mahrez had City’s best chance of the game in the 35th when he met a cross from Raheem Sterling but shot wide after failing to cleanly connect the ball.
Son had already threatened on a couple of counters by the time he put Spurs ahead. The South Korea international collected the ball down the right flank, drove at defender Nathan Ake and then cut inside to bend a low shot inside the far post.
West Ham twice came from a goal down to start its Premier League campaign with a 4-2 victory against Newcastle on Sunday in a crowd-pleasing game in front of a full St James’ Park.
Callum Wilson put Newcastle ahead in just the fifth minute and the game continued at a furious pace until the final whistle, with West Ham scoring three unanswered goals in 14 second-half minutes to get the win.
Aaron Cresswell scored the visitors’ first equalizer in the 18th minute when his teasing low ball drifted beyond the outstretched leg of Tomas Soucek and into the net. The goal was initially flagged for offside, but stood after a replay showed the ball had already crossed the line before Jarrod Bowen tapped it.
But Newcastle retook the lead five minutes before the end of an entertaining first half as Jacob Murphy stooped to head home after Matt Ritchie’s cross from the byline had just evaded the leaping Wilson.
West Ham hit back again eight minutes after halftime, with Said Benrahma getting between two defenders to head in at the back post following a cross from Michail Antonio, who did well to control a difficult pass on the left.
Antonio then saw a bullet header cannon off the bar and ricochet into Murphy, who was adjudged to have brought down Pablo Fornals in the area in an attempt to claim the loose ball. Goalkeeper Freddie Woodman guessed right to save Antonio’s penalty low to his left, but Soucek was first to the rebound and bundled in after 63 minutes.
It took only another three minutes for West Ham to seize complete control as Antonio finally got on the scoresheet on the counter, getting the ball on to his right foot and drilling low into the corner beyond Woodman.
It made for a promising start for David Moyes’ West Ham, which finished a surprising sixth last season.
On Saturday, Mohamed Salah set up two goals and scored himself for a fifth straight year in the opening round of a Premier League season to lead Liverpool to a 3-0 win at Norwich.
Diogo Jota broke the deadlock in the first half after a slight touch by Salah.
Substitute Roberto Firmino doubled the advantage not long after coming on following a square ball from Salah, who wrapped up an impressive first showing from the Reds with a record-breaking strike into the net. Salah became the first player to score in five consecutive opening weekends of the Premier League season. (AP)
