- Son Heung-min had his penalty saved by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa
- It has now emerged that Hwang Hee-chan played a key role in denying Son
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! New formation, some new faces, but the optimism has gone at Old Trafford
Footage has emerged of Wolves striker Hwang Hee-chan playing a decisive role in stopping his international team-mate Son Heung-min during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
Hwang and Son have 200 international caps between them and have come together to produce some big moments for South Korea over the years.
But they were on opposite sides this weekend, and that worked against Son just before half time when he stepped up to take a penalty for Spurs.
Brennan Johnson had been brought down in the area, and Son had the chance to put Tottenham 2-1 up after Rodrigo Bentancur earlier cancelled out Hwang’s opener.
But as the Spurs captain waited to take his spot-kick, Hwang could be seen frantically waving his arms to get Jose Sa’s attention and tell him to dive to his right.
Radu Dragusin tried to stop Hwang, but to no avail as the Wolves star managed to get his message across. Sure enough, when Son did step up, he went to the side that Hwang predicted, but so did Sa, and he parried the effort to safety.
Footage has emerged of Hwang Hee-chan pointing to Jose Sa to dive to his right for Son Heung-min’s penalty
Sa followed Hwang’s advice and saved Son’s penalty on the stroke of half time
Son and Hwang are international team-mates, but Hwang put that to one side to deny Son on Sunday
It was a huge moment in the game, and further dampened the mood at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the home fans grew more restless amid their team’s struggles in the first half of the season.
Spurs did still manage to go into the break in front when Johnson netted deep into added time, but Sa’s save ensured that Wolves remained within touching distance.
They refused to give in throughout the second half, and finally got their reward with three minutes remaining when Jorgen Strand Larsen fired home an equaliser.
His late goal stretched Wolves’ unbeaten start to life under new manager Vitor Pereira to three matches, and moved the Midlands club two points clear of the bottom three.
And it was all possible thanks to Hwang’s intervention to deny his fellow countryman Son.
Meanwhile, Tottenham were made to rue Son’s miss, and will now enter 2025 in the bottom half of the table.
