English Premier League Tottenham's Son Heung-min saved his team from the brink of defeat by scoring his ninth league goal against 'fourth-placed contenders' Manchester United.

Son Heung-min balanced the net in the 34th minute of the second half as they drew 2-1 at home to United in the 2022-2023 English Professional Football Premier League (EPL) Round of 33 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England.

'Best friend' Harry Kane, who caught the ball from behind after contesting an aerial ball, raced down United's right flank before a cold cross into the penalty area was delivered precisely to the feet of Son Heung-min who was running through the back of the defence.

Then Son Heung-min calmly slid the ball into the goal with his right foot to turn the tie.

Son Heung-min's equaliser gave Tottenham one point after a 2-2 draw.

After building momentum with back-to-back goals against Brighton & Hove Albion in Round 30 and Bournemouth in Round 31, Son Heung-min, who was silent against Newcastle United just before the crushing 6-1 defeat, rebounded with a scoreboard.

With his ninth league goal, Son Heung-min is now just one goal away from reaching double-digit scoring heights for the seventh consecutive season.

Son Heung-min, who scored his 144th goal in a Tottenham shirt, moved into sole possession of sixth place in the club's all-time goalscoring list, ahead of former England international striker Jermain Defoe (143 goals).

The gap with Welsh striker Cliff Jones (fifth, 159 goals), who played in the 1960s, was reduced to 15 goals.

It was also the 24th goal scored by Son Heung-min after receiving Kane's pass.

According to football record specialist Opta, this equals Frank Lampard's EPL record of assisting Didier Drogba's goal 24 times at Chelsea.

A loss would have dimmed Tottenham's chances of qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League (UCL) if they had lost this game.

A 2-1 defeat without Son Heung-min scoring would have left Tottenham in seventh place, behind Aston Villa (54 points, +5 goals) and Liverpool (53 points, +22 goals).

With a six-point gap to fourth-placed United (18 wins, 6 draws, seven losses, 60 points), Tottenham can keep their hopes of recapturing fourth place alive until the end of the season.

However, with one more game than third-placed Newcastle (62 points) and two more than United, Tottenham are still at the greatest disadvantage with five games left until the end of the regular season.

In the EPL, the fourth-placed team receives a ticket to the UCL for next season.

After a crushing defeat against Newcastle in a 5-0 draw at the second-highest EPL start (21 minutes into the first half), Tottenham put in the back they used at the time and pulled out a familiar three-back.

However, a Christian Romero-Eric Dier-Clément Langlais three-back conceded the first goal seven minutes into the game, exposing the defensive jitters again.

United took the lead when Jadon Sancho, receiving a pass from Marcus Rashford, put Romero in front of him near the left corner of the penalty area and stabbed a right-footed shot into the bottom of the opposite goal.

Tottenham started Son Heung-min as a right-flanker to match Kane and Hicharlisson, but they fell behind in the midfield battle, lagging behind in a variety of metrics, including first-half possession (39%-61%), shots on target (6-11) and effective shots (3-6).

They produced a sharp counter-attack in the 43rd minute of the first half, but Ivan Perisic, who raced to the back of the Reds, did not pass to Son Heung-min, who played with him in the centre, but his direct shot was blocked by the goalkeeper and came to the brink.

Tottenham conceded again shortly afterwards when a long pass from Bruno Fernandes' half-line was delivered to Rashford, who was running forward.

Rushford, who drove the ball into the penalty box, made it 2-0 with a powerful left-footed shot in front of Dier.

Unlike the first half, Tottenham took the lead in the second half and went on the offensive, which paid off with a goal from Pedro Foro in the 11th minute.

Kane's shot from the doorstep was blocked by the defence and Poro kicked it back in with his right foot.

Tottenham hit back with 11 shots on target in the first 30 minutes of the second half, but Son Heung-min's goal in the 34th minute of the second half eventually turned the tie.

Acting head coach Ryan Mason, who replaced the sacked head coach Christian Stelini, went into a 'solidification' in the 42nd minute of the second half when defender Japhet Tanganga replaced Son Heung-min, holding off a last-minute attack to split the points between the two sides.

(Photo = Getty Images Korea)