Team K League 3-6 Tottenham: Player ratings as Spurs open pre-season with win
By Sean Walsh
Tottenham kicked off their pre-season preparations with an entertaining 6-3 win against Team K League in Seoul.
Spurs started under the cosh but carved out the first half chance of the game when Richarlison's flick found Lucas Moura, but the winger's effort from 20 yards sailed wide.
Rodrigo Bentancur then danced his way into the Team K League penalty area, but scuffed his shot as the visitors took control of the match.
Tottenham somehow didn't take the lead when Richarlison rounded goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, and Jeong Tae-wook managed to poke the ball on but only into the path of Emerson Royal, who somehow fired wide when faced with an empty net.
Bryan Gil, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Valencia, was next to spurn a glorious opportunity when he couldn't control Emerson's smart low cross.
A volley from Davinson Sanchez was pushed into the side netting by Jo midway through the first half, before the Colombian was fortunate not to concede a penalty when he tripped Cho Gue-sung in the area.
And Spurs finally broke the deadlock after Eric Dier played a quick give and go with Gil before firing into the top corner from the edge of the box with his weak foot.
Young goalkeeper Brandon Austin parried away a speculative shot from Kim Dae-won, before Yang Hyun-jun weaved his way through the Spurs backline but couldn't find a finish to match.
Team K League grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Cho Gue-sung managed to sneak between Dier and Sanchez and head home Aleksander Palocevic's cross.
Spurs re-took the lead almost immediately after the interval when Harry Kanes's cross was turned in by Kim Jin-hyuk.
However, Team K League pegged them back again when Lars Veldwijk peeled away from Tottenham's retreating backline and found the bottom corner with a sweeping shot, with Hugo Lloris unable to push the ball away with aa strong enough fist.
Kane notched Tottenham back in front seconds later with a cracker from 25 yards, but could again have conceded when Dier lost possession and was lucky that Joo Min-kyu's shot trickled the wrong side of the post.
Tottenham were awarded a penalty for a handball when Amano Jun essentially caught it with both hands, and Son Heung-min stepped up to slot home in front of his countrymen.
Jun made amends when a whipped free-kick beat Lloris at his near post, with Son breaking free in the wall to allow the shot to go on target.
Team K League were reduced to ten men when Kim Dong-min brought down Son when he was sprinting through on goal, picking up his second booking. Kane grabbed his second from the resulting free-kick (seriously).
Son netted his brace when defender Kim Ji-su played the ball right to him, taking his time to stroll past the goalkeeper and grab Spurs' sixth and final goal of the match.
Team K League vs Tottenham player ratings
Disclaimer: This was a pre-season friendly. Try not to draw too many conclusions.
1. Tottenham Hotspur (3-4-3)
GK: Brandon Austin - 4/10 - Should probably have done better for Team K League's equaliser.
CB: Cristian Romero - 6/10 - Played with his usual aggression and bite.
CB: Eric Dier - 7/10 - Scored a smashing goal but didn't cover himself in glory defensively.
CB: Davinson Sanchez - 3/10 - Put in a couple of decent challenges but was largely unimpressive and for some reason tried to clear the cross for the first equaliser with a high foot rather than his head.
RM: Emerson Royal - 6/10 - Delivery was quite good. Got rattled a few times by Team K League's cynical fouls.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur - 6/10 - Looked quite rash but always called for the ball and played some neat passes.
CM: Oliver Skipp - 7/10 - Didn't miss a beat on his return from a six month injury. Worked hard and distributed the ball well.
LM: Ryan Sessegnon - 4/10 - On skates defensively but stretched the play well.
RF: Bryan Gil - 7/10 - Did well on a rare chance to impress. Dropped deep to help progress the ball and flittered between the lines.
LF: Lucas Moura - 8/10 - Had great fun driving at Team K League. Moved to wing-back for the second half.
CF: Richarlison - 6/10 - Very busy and had some sights of goal. Touch was a bit lacking but that was forgivable. Shifted to the right after Son's introduction.
SUB: Hugo Lloris (GK) - 3/10 - Should have done much better with both goals he conceded.
SUB: Harry Kane (CF) - 9/10 - His first few touches saw him cross for one goal before scoring another.
SUB: Japhet Tanganga (CB) - 6/10 - Looked more comfortable than Sanchez and at times Dier.
SUB: Matt Doherty (LM) - 5/10 - Wasn't involved too much.
SUB: Pape Matar Sarr (CM) - 5/10 - Kept it safe on his first appearance for the club.
SUB: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (CM) - 5/10 - Similarly unadventurous.
SUB: Son Heung-min (LF) - 8/10 - Scored twice and won the free-kick for Kane's brace in front of a home crowd.
SUB: Troy Parrott (RF) - 5/10
SUB: Harvey White (LM) - 6/10
SUB: Malachi Fagan-Walcott (CB) - 5/10
SUB: Charlie Sayers (CB) - 5/10