Tottenham vs Leicester LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction as Son Heung-min hits hat-trick
Antonio Conte’s side move joint-top as Brendan Rodgers faces up to a run of six straight defeats
Son Heung-min ended his scoring drought in stunning fashion with a sublime hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur crushed Leicester City 6-2 to move joint top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Rodrigo Bentancur’s first goal for Tottenham was separating the sides in an entertaining tussle but Son, who started on the bench, exploded back to form with three goals in 13 minutes.
The South Korean, the Premier League’s joint-top scorer last season, had not scored in Tottenham’s first eight games.
Leicester took an early lead with a twice-taken penalty by Youri Tielemans but Tottenham hit back quickly with Harry Kane powering in a header at the far post.
Tottenham went ahead in the 21st minute as defender Eric Dier marked his return to the England squad with a glancing header from a corner.
Bottom-placed Leicester were lively in attack though and James Maddison’s superb finish sent them in level at halftime.
Bentancur seized on a mistake to restore Tottenham’s lead in the 47th minute but Son went on to steal the show.
After coming on in the 59th minute, he curled an unstoppable right-footer into the top corner in the 73rd minute, then curled a left-footer into the opposite side 11 minutes later.
Son then completed his hat-trick after running on to a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg through ball.
Tottenham 3-2 Leicester
51 mins: Perisic and Dier combine once more from a corner but Dier just tries to flick the ball further into the box from close by the front post.
He gets it into the six-yard area but Danny Ward plucks the ball out of the air.
GOAL! Tottenham 3-2 Leicester (Bentancur, 47’)⚽️
47 mins: Spurs lead once more! Leicester look to play out from the back as Jonny Evans gives the ball to Wilfred Ndidi. Ndidi dallies too long with the ball and Rodrigo Bentancur nicks the ball off him.
He carries it into the box and side foots his effort wide of Danny Ward to slot the ball home off the inside of the post!
Second half: Tottenham 2-2 Leicester
Harry Kane gets the ball rolling again for the second 45 minutes. Neither manager has made a change during the break.
HT Tottenham 2-2 Leicester
Will Antonio Conte call on reinforcements for the second half?
Son Heung-min is on the bench but he has had 17 shots in this season’s Premier League and no player who is yet to score has had more prior to the latest round of fixtures.
HT Tottenham 2-2 Leicester
Harry Kane has scored 20 goals against Leicester City in his career, with 18 of those coming in the Premier League for Spurs – only Alan Shearer has netted more in the competition against a specific opponent (20 against Leeds).
HT Tottenham 2-2 Leicester
Four goals but it’s all square at half-time.
Half-time: Tottenham 2-2 Leicester
45+2 mins: There’s the whistle to end a blockbuster first half at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. Leicester took the lead through and early Youri Tielemans penalty before Harry Kane and Eric Dier put Spurs in front.
Four minutes out from the break James Maddison drew the Foxes back level and could have added a third on the stroke of half-time but his shot was stopped by Hugo Lloris.
What does the second half have in store?
Tottenham 2-2 Leicester
43 mins: Save! Perisic delivers a fine free kick into the box from the inside left channel and perfectly picks out Davinson Sanchez whose headed effort seems to be sneaking up the crossbar.
Danny Ward dives across to his left and gets his fingertips to the ball, pushing it upwards and onto the crossbar!
GOAL! Tottenham 2-2 Leicester (Maddison, 41’)⚽️
41 mins: James Maddison with an excellent finish! A diagonal ball comes over to Timothy Castagne on the right side of the pitch and he leaps higher than Ryan Sessegnon to get the ball under control.
Sessegnon knocks the ball into the middle of the box and Maddison arrives to help it into the far bottom corner!
Tottenham 2-1 Leicester
36 mins: Maddison floats the ball out to Castagne on the right side and he curls a cross into the middle. It bounces down to Dewsbury-Hall who’s shot is blocked. The ball comes back to him and he knocks it up to Barnes who fizzes an effort wide of the back post.
He was offside though so the goal wouldn’t have counted even if he’d scored.
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