Preston North End 0-3 Tottenham: Son stunners and Danjuma on debut send Spurs through in FA Cup

South
Korea
international
Son
curled
the
opening
goal
from
25
yards
in
the
50th
minute
to
break
Preston’s
resistance
at
Deepdale.

Antonio
Conte’s
visiting
side
dominated
throughout
but
mostly
found
clear-cut
opportunities
difficult
to
come
by,
though
Son
struck
again
in
fine
style
to
put
them
in
control.

Danjuma,
off
the
bench
for
his
first
Spurs
game,
rubbed
salt
in
the
wounds
of
the
Championship
side
with
a
late
third.

Our
Sonny

pic.twitter.com/FVmoSGsB8u

—
Tottenham
Hotspur
(@SpursOfficial)

January
28,
2023

Tottenham
dominated
the
early
proceedings
of
Saturday’s
game,
with
Son
the
most
threatening
outlet,
twice
forcing
Freddie
Woodman
into
action
with
attempts
from
outside
the
box.

For
all
their
possession
though,
Conte’s
players
struggled
to
break
down
Preston’s
resilient
defensive
line
and
were
restricted
to
efforts
from
distance,
Dejan
Kulusevski
firing
a
strike
over
the
bar.

Five
minutes
after
the
restart,
Spurs
found
the
breakthrough
as
Son
cut
onto
his
left
foot
after
receiving
a
pass
from
Japhet
Tanganga
and
struck
a
fine
effort
beyond
the
reach
of
Woodman.

Preston
responded
well,
with
Ched
Evans
weaving
his
way
through
several
markers
to
tee
up
Benjamin
Whiteman,
but
his
strike
from
just
outside
the
area
whistled
wide
of
Fraser
Forster’s
right-hand
post.

The
fightback
was
quickly
quelled
though
as
Son
struck
again,
with
Ivan
Perisic
backheeling
a
pass
into
the
area
for
the
Spurs
number
seven
to
turn
his
markers
and
send
a
fine
finish
into
the
right
corner.

Danjuma
added
icing
on
the
cake
in
the
87th
minute,
scuffing
Kulusevski’s
pass
into
the
Preston
net
to
cap
a
comfortable
win.

What
does
it
mean?
Spurs
march
on

Victory
for
Spurs
secured
a
fifth-round
spot
for
a
fourth
successive
season,
their
longest
such
sequence
since
making
it
this
far
in
five
consecutive
campaigns
from
1978-79
to
1982-83.

In
what
has
largely
been
a
frustrating
season
for
Spurs,
the
FA
Cup
can
offer
some
encouragement
and,
with
London
rivals
Chelsea
and
Arsenal
among
those
to
have
already
fallen,
they
will
fancy
their
chances
of
going
all
the
way
for
the
first
time
since
1990-91.

Stellar
Son

Two
spectacular
goals
were
a
deserved
return
for
Son,
who
stood
out
as
Spurs’ most
threatening
outlet
throughout
and
brought
an
end
to
a
concerning
run
that
had
saw
him
score
just
once
in
the
last
13
matches.

Son
had
four
shots
throughout,
all
of
which
were
on
target,
with
his
two
goals
coming
from
an
expected
goals
(xG)
of
just
0.18.

Perisic
pulls
the
strings

With
48
touches,
Perisic
saw
less
of
the
ball
than
any
of
his
outfield
team-mates
from
the
starting
XI,
but
he
made
an
impact
when
he
had
possession.

Three
chances
created
was
the
highest
of
any
player
on
the
field
and
included
the
deft
assist
for
Son’s
second
that
erased
any
concern
of
a
late
fightback
from
the
hosts.

Key
Opta
facts

–
Son
scored
his
first
FA
Cup
goals
since
February
2020
(against
Southampton).
Each
of
his
last
four
goals
in
the
competition
have
come
in
the
fourth
round,
while
this
was
his
first
double
in
the
FA
Cup
since
hitting
two
in
February
2018
in
a
fifth-round
replay
against
Rochdale.

–
Tottenham
will
have
enjoyed
this
win;
however,
there
might
be
trouble
ahead
as
they
have
been
eliminated
in
the
fifth
round
in
the
last
three
seasons.

–
Preston
have
now
lost
their
last
seven
FA
Cup
matches
against
top-flight
opposition,
all
of
which
have
come
at
home
–
in
fact,
they
haven’t
won
at
home
to
a
top-tier
side
in
the
competition
since
January
1979
(3-0
v
Derby
County).

–
This
was
the
first
time
Harry
Kane
has
not
featured
for
Tottenham
since
the
October
2021
match
against
Vitesse
in
the
Europa
Conference
League,
having
played
68
successive
games
for
Spurs.
Here,
he
was
an
unused
substitute,
given
a
rest
by
Conte.

What’s
next?

Tottenham
host
Manchester
City
in
the
Premier
League
next
Sunday
(February
5),
with
Preston
welcoming
Bristol
City
in
Championship
action
a
day
prior.