Son Scores Direct from a Corner as Tottenham Beats Man United 4-3 in English League Cup

Soccer Football - Carabao Cup - Quarter Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - December 19, 2024 Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Radu Dragusin and Yves Bissouma REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
Soccer Football - Carabao Cup - Quarter Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - December 19, 2024 Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Radu Dragusin and Yves Bissouma REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
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Son Scores Direct from a Corner as Tottenham Beats Man United 4-3 in English League Cup

Soccer Football - Carabao Cup - Quarter Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - December 19, 2024 Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Radu Dragusin and Yves Bissouma REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
Soccer Football - Carabao Cup - Quarter Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - December 19, 2024 Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Radu Dragusin and Yves Bissouma REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

Son Heung-min scored a spectacular goal directly from a corner to fire Tottenham into the English League Cup semifinals in a thrilling 4-3 win over Manchester United on Thursday.
Spurs will play Premier League leader Liverpool for a place in the final, and Arsenal was drawn against Newcastle in the other last-four matchup.
Son’s strike in the 88th-minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium came as Spurs tried to hold off a dramatic comeback from United, having led 3-0 in the second half, The Associated Press reported.
United had pulled it back to 3-2 and was pushing for an equalizer when Son whipped in a curling right-footed shot past goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, it said.
“Obviously we made it harder than it should have been, for sure," Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said and added, “Are you not entertained?”
United’s players complained Bayindir had been fouled by Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall as Son’s shot flew past him. Replays appeared to show contact between the two, but with no VAR at this stage of the competition, there was no chance of a review.
Jonny Evans scored again for United in stoppage time, but Spurs held on for the win that had looked all but certain shortly after halftime.
Having gone ahead through Dominic Solanke’s goal from close range in the 15th, Tottenham took control after the break.
Dejan Kulusevski doubled the lead a minute after the restart and Solanke fired in his second in the 54th.
United head coach Ruben Amorim made a triple substitution — bringing on Joshua Zirkzee, Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo.
It quickly had an impact with Zirkzee forcing Fraser Forster into a flying save and then capitalizing on a loose pass by the Tottenham goalkeeper to make it 3-1.
Forster was guilty of another mistake in the 70th when his attempted clearance was closed down by Diallo and ricocheted over the line.
United increased the pressure, but Son’s unlikely goal gave Spurs a cushion again — and it proved to be the decisive strike after Evans’ late header reduced the deficit again.
“I know the studio (punditry team) is probably going into meltdown over my lack of tactics,” Postecoglou said. “I love the fact that we go out there and take it to oppositions.”



Atletico Takes 11-game Winning Streak to Barcelona in Battle for La Liga Top Spot

Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Slovan Bratislava at Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Slovan Bratislava at Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Atletico Takes 11-game Winning Streak to Barcelona in Battle for La Liga Top Spot

Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Slovan Bratislava at Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Slovan Bratislava at Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

When Atletico Madrid led the Spanish league in spending on summer transfers, Diego Simeone's club was making a bet it could challenge for its first title since 2021.

On Saturday, Atletico can move to the top of the table with a win at a Barcelona side that is struggling to reproduce its great start to the campaign. And to make matters worse for Hansi Flick, the hosts will be missing injured star Lamine Yamal for its last game before a short winter break.

Atletico has pulled level on points with Barcelona after reeling off six wins in a row in La Liga, while Barcelona has won only one of its last six league games.

Atletico midfielder Pablo Barrios expects a difficult game despite the contrasting form of the opponents.

“What is happening to them is kind of the opposite of what happened to us,” Barrios told Spanish radio Cadena SER. “When people were doubting us they were playing incredible, and even though they have lost some games now, they still have great players and I am sure it is going to a very tough game.”

Flick was earning praise from Barcelona fans and even Lionel Messi after the German’s great start when Barcelona was scoring in bunches and rolled off win after win, and it looked like the top title candidate when it crushed defending champion Real Madrid 4-0 in late October.

But that turned out to be a peak of performance from which Barcelona has subsequently fallen, The AP reported.

Barcelona has only two wins in its last eight games overall, a bad run during which it has endured humbling home defeats to Liga minnows Las Palmas and Leganes.

Atletico’s trajectory has gone the opposite direction.

Simeone’s team had some troubles early on as it worked to integrate newcomers Julián Álvarez, Conor Gallagher, Alexander Sorloth, and Robin Le Normand.

Atletico was in fourth place and 10 points behind Barcelona on Oct. 27 — the last time it lost a match.

Álvarez and Sorloth are now clicking up front with veteran leader Antoine Griezmann, and the team is on a streak of 11 victories in a row across all competitions. Griezmann has scored seven goals and Álvarez five in Atletico’s last six games. Sorloth struck to beat Getafe 1-0 last round and pull Atletico level on points with Barcelona.

Now it can take the lead of the competition with a win at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium.

The fixture, while overshadowed by the “clasico” between Barcelona and Real Madrid, has become a must-see game in Spain ever since Simeone turned Atletico into a perennial title contender over a decade ago.

This edition of the matchup will pit Barcelona’s top-scoring attack with 50 goals against an Atletico defense that, along with Real Sociedad, has allowed a league-low 11 goals.

Yamal's ankle injury deprives Barcelona of the league's top assist maker (9).

Raphinha will likely replace Yamal on the right side of the attack to accompany Robert Lewandowski, who leads the league in scoring with 16 goals. Raphinha is the competition’s second leading scorer with 11 goals.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid will be hoping for a draw. It is in third place, one point back before hosting Sevilla on Sunday.

Both Atletico and Real Madrid have a game in hand on Barcelona.