Son Heung-min plays strong 1st half, Tottenham reach Europa League knockouts with win

Captain Son Heung-min looked dangerous in his 45 minutes as his Tottenham Hotspur clinched a knockout berth at a continental tournament with a victory at home.

Spurs defeated the Swedish side IF Elfsborg 3-0 in their final league-phase match of the UEFA Europa League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Thursday (local time).

By improving to 17 points on five wins, two draws and one loss, Spurs finished the league phase in fourth place and grabbed a ticket to the round of 16 as a seeded team.

The Europa League did away with a traditional group stage setup this season, and instead ranked 36 clubs in a joint group and randomly assigned them eight opponents each. The top eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16. Teams ranked from ninth to 24th will end up in the playoffs for the knockout phase, with the teams from ninth to 16th seeded for the draw. Clubs ranked from 25th to 36th will be eliminated.

Son got the start on the left wing and was subbed out for Dejan Kulusevski at the start of the second half. Son finished the league phase with three goals, tied for the club lead with Brennan Johnson.

Although Son didn’t factor into a goal in Thursday’s win, he was Tottenham’s best player in the first half, as he constantly beat his man on the left flank to create opportunities for his teammates.

In the eighth minute, he drew a free kick after getting fouled by Simon Hedlund on the left flank. Then in the 23rd minute, Son created space with nifty footwork on the left and fed the ball to Pedro Porro, whose header was stopped by goalkeeper Isak Pettersson.

Ten minutes later, Son once again worked the ball in from the left, and his deflected cross found Pape Sarr, who forced a solid save by Pettersson with his left-footed attempt.

Spurs couldn’t put one past Pettersson despite attempting 11 shots in the first half. Dane Scarlett broke the ice for the home side in the 70th minute, before Oyindamola Ajayi doubled the lead in the 84th minute.

Mikey Moore rounded out the scoring four minutes into stoppage time.

It was a much-needed victory for Spurs, who have gone winless in their past seven Premier League matches — a skid that includes four straight losses — and are stuck in 15th place with 24 points, only eight points above the relegation zone with 15 matches remaining.