Tottenham 6 Leicester 2: Brendan Rodgers on brink of sack as Son scores stunning hat-trick after coming off bench
NO wonder Antonio Conte likes his favourite Son when he’s angry.
The Italian claimed on Thursday that he was in favour of Son Heung-min being in a rage over his eight-game goal drought.
He then proceeded to drop the South Korean to the bench for this game - the first time that has happened to Son when fully fit in a league match in more than two years.
You wondered whether it would prove to be a master stroke from Conte - or kill the forward’s confidence completely.
It proved, of course, to be the former as Son netted a stunning hat-trick in 13 second-half minutes as a sub to put this helter-skelter clash to bed.
Leicester had gone ahead through Youri Tielemans’ penalty - at the second time of asking - before Foxes nemesis Harry Kane levelled.
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Eric Dier then continued his good week, following his England recall, by putting Spurs ahead, only for James Maddison to restore parity.
Rodrigo Bentancur opened his Tottenham account just after the break, before Son stole the show with a blistering treble.
It moved Spurs second in the league, level on points with leaders Manchester City.
While Foxes chief Brendan Rodgers had to endure chants of "You’re getting sacked in the morning" as his side’s winless start to the campaign continued.
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Speaking after the game, Rodgers said: "Whatever happens I’ll have a huge amount of respect for them [the owners] because they’ve given me great support.
“I understand the game. The scoreline didn’t reflect the game but the bottom line is it’s a heavy defeat.
“They’ve given me brilliant support. Whatever happens to me at Leicester, whether I stay and fight on, I’ll always respect them."
On the pressure he is facing, the former Celtic and Liverpool boss said: “I come in every day and do my work. I totally understand the frustration of supporters. I can’t hide from that. It’s my responsibility.
Son’s relegation to the bench came as no surprise as Conte warned he would make changes to re-energise his side.
But despite bringing four fresh players into the team, they still made a sluggish start.
It was thanks to Davinson Sanchez - brought back in for Cristian Romero - making an unnecessary foul on James Justin just as the England man had dribbled into the box.
Hugo Lloris saved Tielemans’ initial effort but was adjudged by VAR to be off his line and so the Belgian had another bite at the cherry, which he converted.
It was the perfect start for Rodgers’ men.
Yet they only had to look back to last week when they went 1-0 up even quicker than they did here at Brighton, only to be battered 5-2 in Graham Potter’s last game as Albion boss.
Their fragility showed again as within two minutes, Spurs were level thanks to the Fox Hunter Kane.
The England captain always fills his boots against Leicester and he made it 20 in all competitions against them as he headed home a cross from Dejan Kulusevski following a short corner.
Kulusevski took a lot of credit for the delivery, justifying Conte’s decision to bring him back into the team at the expense of Son, who had not been benched when fully fit for a league game since July 9, 2020.
Conte did not have to wait long to see his side go ahead as man-of-the-moment Dier flicked home a corner at the near post on 21 minutes.
His manager had urged him to up his goal tally when discussing his improvement a few weeks ago, having failed to net for the last three campaigns.
Now Dier has two in nine games already this term, as Leicester amazingly made it TWENTY-FIVE goals conceded from set pieces since the start of last season.
Ivan Perisic supplied the corner having intriguingly been deployed as a right wing-back for the first time by Conte at Spurs, making the hosts far more dangerous down the flanks.
The ball was in the Leicester net again minutes later, as another Perisic corner saw Wilfred Ndidi put past own keeper.
Yet this time ref Simon Hooper ruled the goal out due to an alleged foul from Sanchez on keeper Ward.
Leicester may have been all over the shop defending set-pieces but they still posed a threat up top.
Patson Daka fired a warning shot and then with four minutes to go to the break, Maddison levelled beautifully, hooking in Timothy Castagne’s cross.
It gave yet another reminder of the Foxes playmaker’s considerable talents - even if, unlike Dier, he continues to be overlooked by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate.
There was still time before the break for Ward to turn a Sanchez header - from, what else, a set-piece - onto the crossbar and for Maddison to waste a great chance at the far post.
The breathlessness continued in the second half though as Bentancur picked Ndidi’s pocket, ran towards the Leicester box and fired past Ward for his first-ever Spurs goal.
Still Leicester would not lie down and Lloris had to pull off a top stop to beat out Daka’s header.
Just before the hour, Son was finally on the pitch to steal the limelight well and truly.
His first offered no hint of a lack of confidence as he ran at the backpeddling Foxes backline and unleashed a right-footed effort over Ward from the edge of the area.
Famed for being strong on both feet, Son curled home a peach of a second with his left 11 minutes later to make it five.
And he had his hat-trick shortly afterwards - once VAR had overturned the on-pitch offside call - as he slotted home on the counter.
The Son is most definitely shining once again.
And last season’s joint-winner of the Premier League golden boot winner said: "I like to shoot from outside the box - I've practised that since I was a kid.
"Even now after training, if I have time, I try to practice from that position and hitting the top corner. I'm really glad the ball finally went in!
"I was pretty sure I was onside for the hat-trick! I'm glad I've been able to help the team, that is really important and I can go to national duty with renewed energy.
"Of course the team was doing really, really good but individually I was not really really happy about it.
"Now we got a great great win and I got the matchball and my frustration is going away.
"I'm getting emotional [about the support] to be honest. There has been amazing support and I've always felt like I've disappointed my team-mates and fans with my performances. They have always been supporting me."
While Conte said: "Sometimes to start on the bench and to come in is important because in the next game you might be in the starting XI but at the same time you are recharged of the mental and physical energy.
"I am really happy for Sonny today, you know what I think of the player.
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"I said to him if you're going to score three goals in 30 minutes 'maybe we can repeat this experiment', but I was joking. I'm lucky, I have a really good group of players, that are really good people.
"We have to start thinking in a different way if we are going to make the next step."
