Son Heung-min backheels Spurs into 3rd place in Premier League

Chelsea’s visit to Manchester United dominated headlines coming out of Boxing Day, but it was Monday’s match at Vicarage Road that promised to be the day’s best matchup. Tottenham, coming off back-to-back convincing wins, were visiting a Watford squad in the midst of a surprise top-four push. Though the match didn’t carry the prestige of a Big Four battle, it offered something the showdown at Old Trafford couldn’t: two teams currently among the Premier League’s best.

Had that been the hype, Monday’s finish would have lived up to it, with one of the best goals of the holiday season deciding a game that seemed destined to end 1-1. Watford, down a man after Nathan Ake’s early second half sending off, were poised to see out a hard-earned draw as the game approached full-time, with Tottenham’s pressure mounting for one last push.

Then, just before the 90-minute mark, a ball sent in after a Huerleho Gomes punch found substitute Son Heung-min. From the right of the six-yard box, with the ball likely to float to Gomes if untouched, Son, with his back to goal, got his right ankle around Kieran Trippier’s ball, nudging it away from the keeper and into the net for an unlikely winner:

The 2-1 result gave Spurs nine points in their last three games and temporarily vaulted them above Manchester City in the Premier League. While this season’s finish line is still five months away, most of the league has now complete half their schedule, with Spurs still holding a spot in the top four.