Tottenham captain Heung-min Son has opened up on his crucial miss against Manchester City earlier this week.
Stefan Ortega’s close-range one-on-one denial of the Spurs skipper during the latter stages of Tuesday night’s pivotal clash in north London was another massive twist in what has been an absolutely enthralling 2023/24 Premier League title race.
Rather than equalising and potentially sealing the draw that would have provided a massive boost to fierce rivals Arsenal’s hopes of securing a first championship for two decades on the final day of the season, such a miss was instead promptly followed by Erling Haaland scoring again to take City to a 2-0 win and the cusp of an unprecedented fourth successive title and sixth in the last seven seasons.
A draw would not have been enough for Tottenham to take the race for fourth place and Champions League qualification for next season down to the final day, with Aston Villa having drawn 3-3 in a home thriller with Liverpool on Monday night to move five points clear.
Ortega’s 85th-minute save from Son after he had been called upon to replace the injured Ederson will likely be replayed countless times in the weeks ahead if City are to go on and win the title again on the final day as expected, with Son taking full responsibility for missing the golden opportunity but praising the efforts of Pep Guardiola’s No2 ‘keeper.
“I’m also human,” Son told the Evening Standard’s chief football correspondent, Dan Kilpatrick. “The keeper made a really good decision and made himself really big.
“But I take the responsibility not to score that big chance for the team, because the team was working really hard and trying to get a good result.”
