Son Heung-min, the South Korean captain who plays as a forward for English club Tottenham Hotspur scored a hat-trick against Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday night. With this, the 29-year-old ended his eight-match goal draught in Tottenham colours in the 2022-23 season. 

Tottenham went on to win the match 6-2 with Son, Harry Kane, Eric Dier, and Rodrigo Bentancur also finding themselves on the scoresheet. The two Leicester goals came from James Maddison and Youri Tielemans. 

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The South Korean was subbed into the game in place of new signing Richarlison at the 59th-minute mark, along with defender Christian Romero. Son managed to score his second career hat-trick in the league. Two of the goals scored were beautiful curlers from outside the box – one with his left foot and the other with his right. 

The Tottenham Hotspur forward has been a prolific goalscorer in the Premier League. In the last season, he was the joint top goal scorer along with Mohammad Salah of Liverpool. The fact that he was not firing, eight matches into the league, got many pundits talking. 

“It was tough moments and I was really frustrated, to be honest”, the South Korean told BT Sports and also pointed out that the team was doing well and it was his individual performance that was suffering. 

“Not just with the goals, I was not happy with the way I played. I could do much better than what I did in the last seven games”, he further said, adding, “Look, it is a tough season, and I am really glad that I could help the team with a hat-trick. Now I can also go to the national team with fresh energy.” 

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Coach Antonio Conte, when asked about the South Korean’s form, has always believed that it will return. In the press conference before the Leicester game, Conte was asked whether Son was undroppable, to which the Italian replied that no one in his team is undroppable. As a result, the fact that Son did not make it to the starting eleven on Saturday raised a lot of eyebrows. 

However, it turned out that dropping Son at the start was a tactical masterstroke. The South Korean came in with 31 minutes remaining on the clock and turned out to be a menace for the tired Leicester defense.    

Although the comeback was one to remember, the South Korean has a long way to go to win the Golden Boot again this season. Erling Haaland, the Manchester City number 9, is already the favourite to win the award with 11 goals in just seven games.