Son Heung-min says lessons need to be learned after humiliating loss to Leicester

Tottenham's Son Heung-min in action during a Premier League match against Leicester City at King Power stadium in Leicester, England on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur have gone from beating Manchester City to humiliation at the hands of Leicester City in less than a week, losing 4-1 to the Premier League No. 13s in a painfully unimpressive performance on the road.

Spurs managed to give up an early lead after a goal from Rodrigo Bentancur in the 14th minute, allowing Leicester to tie things up in the 23rd minute and add two more before the half-time whistle had even blown.

One more goal for the home side in the 81st minute was the final nail in the coffin for Tottenham, handing Antonio Conte’s side a ridiculous loss six days after they managed to beat Man City 1-0 with 10 men by the end of the game.

A lot of the criticism after the game was leveled at new signee Pedro Porro, who seemed completely outmatched in his debut performance. But while the young Spaniard clearly has a lot to learn to play in the Premier League, the loss can hardly be blamed solely on him.

Son Heung-min and Harry Kane played the full 90 minutes and were unable to achieve anything, with the normally-fiery Dejan Kulusevski also starting.

“We started quite well and created chances,” Son said after the game. “After it was 1-1 we conceded a quick second goal and then it was open. It was a difficult game then. Leicester were so clinical, they almost scored every chance. It’s a very disappointing result.

“I think it’s very sad. We knew it was going to be a really hard game. In the Premier League it’s never an easy game. It showed the Premier League has a high level. I don’t know what I can say, it’s very disappointing.

"I don’t think [it was complacency]. We came with a good feeling after beating City. The first minute we were really on it. We should be ready and learn something. Today should be a big lesson for us."

Conte, who recently returned to Tottenham after undergoing surgery, was on the sidelines for the game but was unavailable for the post-match press conference, leaving assistant manager Cristian Stellini to field the inevitable questions.

“I think today something changed after we scored,” Stellini said. We turned off and in this league you can't turn off. You have to be consistent in all parts of the game. We struggled a lot after the first goal. We're disappointed for that.”

Spurs don’t have long to work out what went wrong — the London club will be back in action on Tuesday as they take on AC Milan in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.

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