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Son Heung-min wins Premier League's Golden Boot

Published: 23 May. 2022, 07:32 Updated: 23 May. 2022, 15:44

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min holds the Premier League's Golden Boot award after a match against Norwich City at Carrow Road in Norwich, England on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

Son Heung-min scored two goals on the final day of the 2021-22 season on Sunday to become the first Asian player ever to win the Premier League's Golden Boot.

Tottenham Hotspur's Son ended the season with 23 goals, splitting the award with Liverpool's Mo Salah.

Salah led the top scorer table going into the final game of the season with 22 goals to Son's 21. The Korean added two more in Spurs' 5-0 win over Norwich City, while Salah picked up a late goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers to split the prize.

The two top scorers approached the prize in very different ways.

Liverpool's Mo Salah holds the Premier League's Playmaker and Golden Boot trophies after a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield in Liverpool on Sunday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Salah scored 20 goals by the middle of March and then his performance sloped off in the last two months of the season, with two goals in a game on April 19 and one more on Sunday.

Son, meanwhile, struck nine times in his last 10 games with six goals coming in the last five games to shoot up the scoring charts and draw level with Salah.

Remarkably, Son also scored all 23 of his goals without a single penalty, far outpacing Salah, who scored five penalties this season. He scored 12 goals with his left foot and 11 with his right foot.

Son is the first Asian footballer to win a Premier League Golden Boot award, making Korea the 13th country to provide a winner, after Britain, the Netherlands, France, Argentina, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Bulgaria, Gabon, Portugal, Senegal, Uruguay and Trinidad and Tobago.

"It's incredible to have this award," Son said. "I can't believe it. I got really emotional. I dreamed of it as a child. Literally it's my in hands. I can't believe it."

"I wanted to score today. The team helped me a lot at half-time. They wanted to help me, you could see it today."

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte also credited the team effort with helping Son win the award.

"It means that there is a great atmosphere in the dressing room," Conte said. "It means the players are really good people, not only good players. We were good to match today these two targets, to get a place in the Champions League and for Sonny to win the Golden Boot."

Tottenham's 5-0 win secured a fourth-place finish, earning the London club a spot in the Champions League next season.

BY JIM BULLEY [[email protected]]