Jose Mourinho likened Heung-Min Son’s goal-of-the-season contender against Burnley to a famous individual effort from Brazil legend Ronaldo after it helped Spurs to a 5-0 win on Saturday.
With Tottenham already 2-0 up, Son picked up the ball on the edge of his own box midway through the first half and drove forwards, beating a series of challenges from Burnley defenders before scoring with a cool finish,
Spurs went on to add two more goals to their tally and a delighted Mourinho was full of praise for his forward after the match, comparing his goal to Ronaldo’s moment of magic for Barcelona against Compostela at the Nou Camp, when Mourinho was working under Sir Bobby Robson.
“Even before this goal my son calls him Son-aldo, Son-aldo Nazario – and today he was Son-aldo Nazario,” said Mourinho.
“The only thing that comes to my mind is the goal where I had the honour to be seated next to Sir Bobby Robson, it was Compostela-Barcelona, 1996, and Ronaldo Nazario got the ball behind the midfield line and scored a very similar goal to Son. Amazing goal.
“Yesterday I met [Son’s] parents. I understood where it comes from. The kid is fantastic. So happy, so happy.”
However, Mourinho was also keen to underlinde how pleased he was with the performance of the entire team.
Spurs bounced back from their midweek defeat at Manchester United in style and were excellent from front to back against a Burnley side which was stunned by early goals from Harry Kane and Lucas Moura before Son’s moment of magic. Second-half goals from Kane and Moussa Sissoko completed the thrashing.
Mourinho even had the opportunity to introduce Oliver Skipp and 17-year-old debutant Troy Parrott from the bench.
“Important, important performance,” said Mourinho. “Result, goals, happiness with the fans, happiness in the team, young boys coming from the bench, the debut of a 17-year-old kid, the clean sheet… I’m really, really happy.
“The result is because we were too good but they are a difficult side.
“Tomorrow is the boys’ first day off in a long, long time and I think it’s a perfect match for them to enjoy and have their day off tomorrow.”
Parrott has a good chance of making his Champions League debut against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, with Mourinho confirming Kane would not play against the German side with Spurs’ progress to the knockout stages already assured.
“He’s debuted at 17 years old, debut in the Premier League,” said Mourinho when asked to explain why he’d done that.
“Sometimes [the ball] is for the guy who scores the hat-trick. I think a much bigger meaning is for a 17-year-old boy that last week was playing in youth Champions League with kids of his age and today played in the Premier League.”
(Sky Sports)
