Son Heung-min scored his first two Tottenham Hotspur goals to help the North Londoners record a come-from-behind 3-1 victory in their Europa League group opener against Qarabag FK at White Hart Lane this evening.
The encounter could not have started much worse for Spurs, who went into the game having lost just one of their previous 17 home European encounters.
It appeared that their positive record would be under threat, though, when in the seventh minute Richard scored from the penalty spot after Tottenham debutant Kieran Trippier was adjudged to have tripped up Ansi Agolli inside the area.
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The goal for the minnows appeared to rock Mauricio Pochettino's men, but as soon as Son had restored parity in the 28th minute, they were in command.
The South Korea international, who is believed to have cost around £20m when he arrived from Bayer Leverkusen last month, found himself unmarked inside the area from a corner situation and he made no mistake from close range.
Then, in Tottenham's very next attack, Son helped himself to a second goal. The creator was Dele Alli, who pulled the ball back for the 23-year-old to find the bottom corner of the net.
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As the half drew to a close the Azerbaijani visitors were guilty of wasting two chances to draw themselves level, with neither Reynaldo nor Afran Ismayilov able to hit the target from good positions.
It seemed after the restart that Tottenham had taken heed of those warnings as they started the second half at a fast pace. Openings were created for Erik Lamela and Son, but the former saw his effort cannon to safety off the post, while the latter spurned a chance to complete his hat-trick when he chipped the ball straight into the hands of Ibrahim Sehic.
The away side remained a threat on the counter-attack as the game progressed, but with four minutes remaining the outcome was put beyond any doubt. Substitute Harry Kane threaded a pass through for Argentine playmaker Lamela, who wrapped up the three points with a dinked effort.
Liam Apicella
