Son Heung-min scores penalty in Europa League draw vs. Roma

Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur has scored his first continental goal of the season, doing so in a draw versus AS Roma in London in the UEFA Europa League.

Son opened the scoring for Spurs with a penalty goal in the fifth minute in the league phase match of the second-tier competition at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Thursday. After Evan N’Dicka equalized for Roma in the 20th minute, Brennan Johnson gave Spurs a 2-1 lead in the 33rd minute.

However, Tottenham settled for a draw after Mats Hummels netted the stoppage-time equalizer.

Tottenham dropped from seventh to ninth in the league phase with three wins, one draw and one loss.

Instead of a more conventional group stage setup, 36 clubs will be ranked in a joint group after eight matches each against randomly drawn opponents. The top eight teams will receive a bye to the round of 16. Those 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 converted the penalty five minutes in, after Pape Sarr was fouled by Hummels inside the area. It was Son’s first goal of this year’s Europa League and his fourth in all competitions, adding to his three goals from the Premier League.

His previous continental goal had come during the UEFA Champions League in October 2022.

Son had a couple more looks at the net, sending a rebound high over the crossbar in the 35th minute after Dejan Kulusevski had hit the post and then testing goalkeeper Mile Svilar with a right-footed attempt five minutes later.

Son was subbed out for Timo Werner in the 77th minute and watched his team blow their lead in the dying moments.

Spurs had started the league phase with victories over Qarabag, Ferencvaros and AZ Alkmaar before losing to Galatasaray and then taking one point against Roma. (Yonhap)