[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Son Heung-min (30, Tottenham) roared as he exploded with a hat-trick. It was his second hat-trick on the English Premier League (EPL) stage. The team achieved a complete victory, and Son Heung-min rose to 2nd place in the league scoring rankings. He is three goals behind the leader Mohamed Salah (Liverpool).
On the 10th (Korean time), Son Heung-min scored 3 goals in the 2021-2022 English Premier League Round 32 away match against Aston Villa held at Villa Park in Birmingham, UK, leading Tottenham to a 4-0 complete victory.
Starting as a left winger, Son Heung-min moved actively from the early stages of the game and scored the team's opening goal in the 3rd minute of the first half. Harry Kane's shot hit an opposing defender and came out, and Son immediately kicked it with his left foot. The ball hit the left goalpost of the opponent's goal and went in.
Son Heung-min's foot shone again in the 21st minute of the second half. In a counterattack situation, he calmly finished the one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper after receiving a ball headed by Kane. Five minutes later, Dejan Kulusevski passed the ball from the right, and Son kicked it with his right foot to complete the hat-trick.
Tottenham won 4-0, led by Son Heung-min's 3 goals and Kulusevski's additional goal in the 5th minute of the second half. With this match, they continued their 4 consecutive league wins and successfully defended 4th place (57 points), the cutoff line for qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League (UCL). Arsenal, who has played one less match than Tottenham, has 54 points, followed by West Ham and Manchester United, who have the same number of matches as Tottenham, with 51 points.
Son Heung-min's hat-trick was his second in the EPL. Previously, on September 20, 2020, he scored 4 goals in the 2nd round of the regular league against Southampton. Including the 3 goals in the 2016-2017 English Football Association (FA) Cup quarterfinals against Millwall on March 13, 2017, it is his third hat-trick as a Tottenham player.
Before that, while playing in Germany, he achieved hat-tricks twice with Bayer Leverkusen: in the 12th round of the 2013-2014 Bundesliga season against Hamburg in November 2013, and in the 21st round of the 2014-2015 season against Wolfsburg in February 2015. Among the three goals scored that day, the goal in the 21st minute of the second half was assisted by the 'fantastic duo' Kane, increasing their record for the most combined goals in EPL history to 40.
Son Heung-min's outstanding performance is also good news for our national team. He can prepare for the Qatar World Cup, which is seven months away, in a good atmosphere. With the opponents for the Qatar World Cup finals decided, Son Heung-min has scored 6 goals in the last 3 matches, likely making the opposing teams nervous.
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