MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Son Heung-min missed Tottenham’s Premier League match against Manchester United on Sunday, with manager Ange Postecoglou saying the South Korea forward wasn’t available after playing in the Europa League on Thursday.
Son, who started in Spurs’ 3-0 win against Qarabag, wasn’t named in the squad for the game at Old Trafford.
“Short turnaround, he just wasn’t right for today so we go in without him,” Postecoglou said. “We’ve had those things a fair bit. We just have to learn to cope without.”
Last week Son joined a growing number of leading figures in soccer to raise concerns about the demands on players, saying there was a “massive” risk of injury.
His comments came after Manchester City midfielder Rodri said last week that players were close to taking strike action. Days later, Rodri sustained knee ligament damage, which has ruled him out for the season.
Tottenham still managed to win convincingly in Son’s absence, beating United 3-0 through goals from Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke.
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