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Son Heung-min started as a front-line striker in the 13th round of the 2023/24 Premier League against Aston Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on the 26th (Korea time).

Tottenham took the lead in the 22nd minute of the first half with the opening goal of Argentine midfielder Giovanni Rossellso, but allowed defender Pau Torres to score an equalizer ahead of the end of the first half. Later, Tottenham suffered a 1-2 upset loss as it also gave striker Ollie Watkins an additional run in the 6th minute of the second half.

With the upset loss against Villa, Tottenham maintained 26 points (8 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses), falling to fifth place in the league. Tottenham, which maintained its lead in 10 matches without loss (8 wins and 2 draws) since the opening of the season, saw its ranking drop four notches as it failed to secure a single point in three consecutive Premier League matches against Chelsea, Wolverhampton and Aston Villa.

After the game, Son Heung-min's behavior in the villa match was posted on social media and became a hot topic. In the video, Son Heung-min tried to relax the mascot kid entering the stadium together before entering the stadium.

The child, who was next to Son Heung-min, who was located in the front row because he was the Tottenham captain, looked nervous ahead of his entrance to the stadium. The child couldn't even look at Son Heung-min properly, let alone shake hands, because he was stiff despite Son Heung-min reaching out his hand.

Son Heung-min felt that the child standing next to him was very nervous, so he tried to relieve her tension. From the moment he entered the stadium until he lined up, Son stroked or talked to a child fan on the shoulder, and the child, whose face had been stiff even before entering, began to laugh, as to how much tension he had eased in Son's efforts.

A soccer fan who posted the video said, "Sonny is this kind of personality. There is no friend next to him who doesn't get attention," adding, "That's why I like him for some reason." Other Tottenham fans also enthusiastically responded, saying, "Sonny is legendary," "He's adorable," and "He's our captain."

Son Heung-min, who is wearing the captain's armband for Tottenham ahead of the 2023/24 season, has scored eight goals so far, taking charge of Tottenham's goals. Currently, only two players in the Premier League have scored more goals than Son in Eling Holan (14 goals, Manchester City) and Mohamed Salah (10 goals, Liverpool).

Son Heung-min attempted his ninth goal of the season against Villa but was left in tears by the offside. In total, Tottenham committed a total of five offside fouls against Villa, which prevented Son from scoring despite shaking the Villa net three times.

Son Heung-min ran from the half-line in the 44th minute of the first half and kicked his right foot from the left side of the penalty area, but was ruled offside by a narrow margin. In the 14th minute of the second half when the score was tied 1-1, he pushed Brennan Johnson's lateral pass from the right side of the penalty area with his left foot, but it turned out that Son Heung-min was in the offside position enough to stand out.

In the 40th minute of the second half, he shook the net for the third time on the day, but he was caught offside again. POW's shot inside the penalty box hit the post, which Son Heung-min put into the net. Before kicking the shot, Son Heung-min held up the flag without hesitation as his position was ahead of the Villa defense.

Son Heung-min, who felt responsible for failing to score a goal due to a series of offside and preventing his team from losing, apologized to his fans.

According to Tottenham's official website and British media including "Metro," Son had no choice but to slow down the tempo due to delays in the game due to VAR and other decisions. "We kept checking and checking VAR," Son said. "It's also our fault. We shouldn't have created such a situation."

"We learned a lesson to make a comeback," he said, adding that he found hope despite three consecutive losses, before apologizing, "I am sorry to my fans for having suffered three consecutive losses. Fans gave me incredible support. I am grateful."

Regarding the goal cancellation due to offside, he said, "I can't help it. I think this result came out because I didn't prepare a little bit more. If I had moved a little more diligently, I wouldn't have caught this situation. I feel a lot of responsibility because I don't think I've been able to help."