Son Heung-min strikes twice to lead Spurs to 3-0 FA Cup win over Preston

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min scores the opening goal during a fourth round FA Cup match against Preston North End at the Deepdale Stadium in Preston, England on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

Son Heung-min struck twice to lead Tottenham Hotspur to a 3-0 win over Preston North End in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, snapping out of his ongoing dry spell with a 25-yard screamer to open things up in the 50th minute.

Son Hammered the shot from outside the box with the calm confidence of the reigning Premier League Golden Boot winner, the panache returning immediately despite his struggle in front of goal this season. He celebrated with his hands in front of his eyes in the shape of a mask, referencing the Zorro-esque carbon fiber protection he had to wear for so much of the last few months.

The delighted away fans at Deepdale in Preston, England, launched into a “Nice one Sonny, let’s have another one” cheer and the Korean captain delivered, producing almost the exact same shot 19 minutes later to once again leave Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman with no options and a long walk to pick the ball out of the back of his net.

Son’s brace comes in the middle of a long and difficult season for the veteran midfielder, with just four league goals to his name in 19 appearances so far this season. He has generally fared even worse in terms of assists, with just three in the league so far.

Away from the Premier League, Son scored a brace in a Champions League game against Eintracht Frankfurt on Oct. 12, but was otherwise kept quiet in the five other games, and he also failed to score in the third round FA Cup game against Portsmouth earlier this month.

There is some evidence that things are starting to pick up for Son after the World Cup break and with the removal of the mask he had to wear for more than a month after receiving an orbital fracture in a game against Marseille on Nov. 1.

In the first half of the season — or at least the pre-World Cup part of the season — Son failed to score in the first six Premier League games of the season, picked up a surprise hat-trick against Leicester on Sept. 17, then failed to score for another six games before injury struck.

The two goals against Frankfurt came in the middle of that second spell, but there was little evidence that things were actually getting better.

After the World Cup break, Son stayed quiet for just two games before scoring against Crystal Palace on Jan. 4. After two more quiet games he assisted Harry Kane on Jan. 23, then returned a week later with the brace in the FA Cup game, suggesting maybe things are finally starting to turn around.

“I needed the goals for my confidence and just for playing games,” Son said after the game. “They’re the positions I like to shoot from and in the first half I had two chances but the goalkeeper made good saves. I’m very, very happy.

“It’s always hard in the FA Cup, especially when you play away from home. In the first half we struggled a little bit because they were defending really, really deep. I’m glad I could help the team and we can now look forward to the next round.”

Back in Preston, Tottenham’s third goal came from new loanee Arnaut Danjuma, scoring his debut goal on his debut just two days after joining the London club on loan from Villarreal.

Conspicuously absent was Harry Kane, who spent the game on the bench after falling ill during the week. For the first half it looked like that Kane absence might be costly, with Spurs only really coming alive after the break.

Spurs now have a full week to rest before they return to the Premier League with a very hard fixture on Feb. 5 as they take on Manchester City at home in London.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]