Leicester vs Tottenham match report: Son Heung-min shows touches of class at the King Power

Leicester 0 Tottenham 2

Son Heung-min competes with Andy King during the FA Cup third round replay (Getty Images)

Finally, having avoided defeat so fortuitously with the penalty that earned them a replay, Tottenham imposed themselves last night and ended the possibility that Leicester’s fantasy season might take them to Wembley as well.

Beaten by Claudio Ranieri’s side in the Premier League since the 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane that kept them in the FA Cup by the skin of their teeth, Tottenham advanced with relative comfort, a goal in each half earning them a fourth-round trip to Colchester.

The difference, in one way, was Harry Kane, whose entry from the bench after an hour was quickly followed by the second goal, giving Mauricio Pochettino’s team a cushion against the strong finish they knew Leicester would produce at home, where they had been beaten only once in their last 14 matches.

The most influential player, though, was the Korean forward Son Heung-min, who scored a fine goal in the first half and came up with the assist for the second, a lovely pass into the path of Nacer Chadli, whose cool finish effectively put the game out of Leicester’s reach.

Given that they have a real chance of finishing in the top four in the Premier League if they can somehow maintain their front-running form, Leicester will not be too dismayed to go out. Tottenham, on the other hand, are making such progress under Pochettino now that they can entertain similar ambitions in the league and consider themselves live contenders in the Cup as well, if the Europa League does not prove a tournament too far.

As in the first meeting 11 days ago, both managers made sweeping changes – in each case eight compared with Saturday’s Premier League line-ups. In Leicester’s case, it would have been nine had Ritchie de Laet not been replaced at the last minute by Danny Simpson in the right-back position.

Ranieri routinely sets up to play on the counter-attack, so Tottenham’s dominance of possession was not unexpected, although finding a way through Leicester’s packed and well-disciplined defence required more than simply having the ball.

Tottenham’s early goal attempts were all from distance and did not threaten Kasper Schmeichel. Leicester only sporadically ventured from their own half, yet made Tottenham nervous enough for Ben Davies to earn himself a caution for tugging at Nathan Dyer’s shirt and for Tom Carroll to end a left-to-right run by teenage full-back Ben Chilwell with a trip a couple of yards outside the box.

The free-kick was in a dangerous position and Gökhan Inler did well to lift the ball up and down over the wall, although Michel Vorm was able to save comfortably.

What happened after 39 minutes forced a change of approach from Leicester after Tottenham made their breakthrough. Following another sequence of patient passes, the ball came to Son, who went past Chilwell on the right and let fly, arrowing his shot perfectly into the top corner of Schmeichel’s goal. No keeper likes to beaten in such a way and perhaps the Dane’s positioning was slightly at fault.

Now the game did open up a little, although it was Tottenham who almost profited again before half-time from a second, similar chance for Son. This time, Chilwell was closer to him and deflected the ball out for a corner. Ranieri’s response was to take off Danny Drinkwater and replace him with Shinji Okazaki, who had put Leicester ahead in the White Hart Lane tie.

Leicester had been too narrow in the first half but now had width in a 4-4-2 formation, with the Japanese striker going up alongside Leonardo Ulloa. The home side immediately looked more effective and when Demarai Gray, making an eye-catching home debut, cut in from the left wing, his curling right-footed shot had Vorm at full stretch to push the ball away.

The shift in emphasis prompted swift action from Pochettino, who replaced Erik Lamela with Kane. Immediately, the England striker was able to affect the game. Indeed, within six minutes of his arrival, Tottenham were two goals to the good.

With pretty much his first meaningful touch, Kane had drawn a save from Schmeichel, who had to fly across his goal to beat away his angled shot.

And he was involved with a pass in the second goal, although it was Son’s beautifully weighted ball that did the real damage, enabling Chadli to slip in behind Marcin Wasilewski and slide the ball past Schmeichel.

It was the Belgian’s first goal since August and one that felt like it would settle the tie in Tottenham’s favour. Leicester had not offered enough going forward to suggest they could score twice in what time remained. Ranieri sent on Jamie Vardy with perhaps 20 minutes left, including stoppage time, hoping he might make a similar impact to Kane.

There was a late rally, in which Vorm had to arch his back to push a smart volley from substitute Marc Albrighton over the bar, but no late drama this time.