Ange Postecoglou’s men threatened to break away in the first forty-five minutes, as Dejan Kulusevski drew first blood before home favorite Son Heung-min scored a brilliant brace to put the Lilywhites 3 goals ahead . benefit in rest.
However, the half-time arrival of Stanislav Iljutcenko breathed new life into the K-League XI, as the Russian scored a quick brace before youngster Will Lankshear gave Tottenham some breathing room.
A fine volley from Oberdan Alionco set up a tantalizing finish, but there would be no more twists and turns in Seoul’s exciting story as Tottenham made it five wins from five in their friendly period.
After their past successes against Cambridge United, Hearts, Queens Park Rangers and Vissel Kobe, Spurs once again dazzled and brought much joy to the attack, but their defensive collapse in forty-five seconds may raise a red flag or two .
There were no prizes for guessing which Tottenham player stole the pre-match fanfare, as Son Heung-min enjoyed the typical hero’s welcome in Seoul and didn’t disappoint the expecting crowd.
The South Korean player played an important role in Spurs’ first goal in the 29th minute, when Hyeon-woo Jo deflected his shot into the danger zone, where Kulusevski reacted quicker to take down the K-League goalkeeper.
After betting as a passer, Son stuck with his same old tricks on the left side and got his call on the scoreboard 8 minutes later, spinning and twisting his marker before locating the most sensible corner with a sublime shot right on the side. box.
The icing on the cake came in first-half stoppage time, where Son and Kulusevski’s devastating central combination ended with the former beating a K-League defender as if he wasn’t even there, before quietly returning home for a good goal. deserved second.
Postecoglou kept his adjustments to the halftime minimum, making only three adjustments during the forty-five seconds, but K-League team boss Park Tae-ha didn’t hesitate to shake up the group, swapping out all of his troops.
One such change was the arrival of FC Seoul striker Iljutcenko, who needed just seven minutes to make a significant impact, firing in from an unmissable angle after Brandon Austin had barely stopped an attempt in his path.
Just two minutes after clearing a Spurs clean sheet, Iljutcenko bizarrely reduced the deficit to one with a fine header, making Emerson Royal’s mistake and curling in a well-placed cross from the right.
Lankshear, taking advantage of a cross from Timo Werner, allowed the Spurs to breathe a little easier, until Alionco crashed a magnificent volley with a punch from Austin, but although the Spurs resisted, the stars of the K-League gave a brilliant account of themselves. at the time 45.
Even before he kicked the first ball in Seoul, news of the Spurs team dominated the inclusion of Emerson Royal, who started in center defense while Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall teamed up in midfield.
The Brazilian has been linked with a transfer to Italian giants AC Milan for weeks, and negotiations have been reported to be now heading in the right direction, however, his variety for Wednesday’s deal suggests a deal will not be imminent.
Whether Emerson believes he can revive his career at Tottenham, only he and Postecoglou know, but he did himself no favors in the K-League side’s second goal, where he absolutely wowed with Iljutcenko’s move.
After two games on tour in Asia, Tottenham will conclude their stopover in South Korea on Saturday at the World Cup stadium in Seoul, where Bayern Munich will be their toughest rival so far.
Postecoglou then reacclimatised to English soil and hosted the German giants in north London on 10 August, before travelling to Leicester City for their Premier League opener on 19 August.