Ange Postecoglou’s men threatened to slip away in the first forty-five minutes, when Dejan Kulusevski shed first blood before home favourites Son Heung-min scored a brilliant brace to put all three Lilywhites targets in the paint for half-time leads. .
However, Stanislav Iljutcenko’s half-time arrival breathed new life into the K-League XI, as the Russian scored a brace before youngster Will Lankshear gave Tottenham a break.
A fine volley from Oberdan Alionco set up a tantalising finish, but there would be no more twists and turns in Seoul’s thrilling history as Tottenham managed five wins out of five in their friendly period.
After their past successes against Cambridge United, Hearts, Queens Park Rangers and Vissel Kobe, Spurs once again dazzled and brightened up the attack a lot, but their defensive collapse within forty-five seconds can trigger a red flag or two.
There’s no prize to guess which Tottenham player stole the pre-match fanfare, as Son Heung-min enjoyed the typical Seoul hero’s welcome and didn’t disappoint the expecting crowd.
The South Korean player played an important role in Spurs’ first goal in the 29th minute, when Hyeon-woo Jo saved his shot in the danger zone, where Kulusevski reacted quicker to clear the K-League goalkeeper.
After betting as a passer, Son stuck with his same old tricks on the left side and got his call on the scoreboard 8 minutes later, spinning and twisting his marker before locating the most sensible corner with a sublime shot right on the side. box.
The icing on the cake came in first-half stoppage time, where Son and Kulusevski’s devastating central combination ended with the former beating a K-League defender like he wasn’t even there, before quietly going home for a well-deserved second.
Postecoglou kept his adjustments to a minimum during the half, making only 3 adjustments by the 45th moment, but K-League team boss Park Tae-ha did not hesitate to shake up the platoon, replacing all his troops. Training
One such replacement was the arrival of FC Seoul striker Iljutcenko, who needed just seven minutes to make a significant impact, firing from an inevitable angle after Brandon Austin was able to stop an attempt in his path.
Just two minutes after clearing a Spurs clean sheet, Iljutcenko bizarrely reduced the lead to one with a very good header, giving Emerson Royal the lead and a well-placed cross from the right.
Lankshear, taking advantage of a Timo Werner cross, allowed Spurs to breathe a little easier, until Alionco hit a magnificent volley with a punch from Austin, but although Spurs resisted, the K-League stars produced a brilliant account of themselves. at time 45.
Even before the first ball was kicked in Seoul, Spurs team news dominated the inclusion of Emerson Royal, who started in central defense while Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall partnered in midfield.
The Brazilian has been linked with a move to Italian giants AC Milan for weeks, with talks reported to be heading in the right direction, but his selection for Wednesday’s match suggests a deal is not imminent.
If Emerson thinks he can revive his career at Tottenham, only he and Postecoglou know, but he didn’t do himself any favors in the K-League team’s second goal, where he absolutely wowed with Iljutcenko’s move.
After two excursion matches in Asia, Tottenham conclude their stopover in South Korea on Saturday at the World Cup stadium in Seoul, where Bayern Munich will be their toughest opponent so far.
Postecoglou then reacclimatised to English soil and hosted the German giants in north London on August 10, before traveling to Leicester City for their first Premier League match on August 19.