I told Son he was being substituted moments before scoring Spurs stunner - Conte

South Korean sealed 3-1 win over Leicester with superb curling effort for his second of the match

Tottenham's Harry Kane celebrates scoring his side's first goal in the 3-1 win against Leicester at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 1, 2022. AP

Son Heung-Min scored Tottenham's second. EPA

Tottenham's Son Heung-min scores their second goal past Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Reuters

Harry Kane celebrates scoring the first goal. Action Images

Son Heung-Min celebrates after scoring his team's second goal. AFP

Son Heung-Min celebrates with Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal after scoring the third. Getty

Harry Kane heads homeTottenham's first goal. Getty

Tottenham's Son Heung-min celebrates after scoring his side's third goal. AP

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte applauds fans. Reuters

Kelechi Iheanacho pulled a goal back for Leicester in time added on. Getty

Antonio Conte revealed he told Son Heung-min he was about to be replaced just moments before scoring a brilliant goal in Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Leicester on Sunday.

Son scored his second of the match and his 19th goal of another productive campaign when he curled home a 20-yard left-footed effort beyond the reach of Kasper Schmeichel into the top corner to put the seal on Spurs’ victory.

He had earlier set up Harry Kane’s opener from a corner and doubled the lead when he turned and shot on the hour.

The quality of the goal left Conte wondering which was Son’s strongest foot, but the Italian said moments like that will only count for something if Spurs achieve their goal of finishing in the top four in the Premier League.

“I gave him a big hug because after an amazing goal my question was which is his favourite foot, right or left?” Conte said.

“He scored a fantastic goal and three minutes before when I spoke with him I said, ‘Go for five or six minutes and then I have to make a change’.

“I said to him that when you listened that I wanted to make a change and you decide to score this amazing goal.

“We are talking about a great player, fantastic player. But it’s important at the end of the season to celebrate a big achievement with the team. Otherwise it remains only a personal success only to score these types of goals.”

Tottenham v Leicester ratings

The victory saw Spurs get back on track in their quest for Champions League qualification after taking one point in their previous two games.

Things might have been different for Leicester had Hugo Lloris not tipped Patson Daka’s shot onto a post, but in the end they only had Kelechi Iheanacho’s stoppage-time strike to show for their efforts.

Manager Brendan Rodgers showed where his priorities lie having made many changes to his side with next week’s return trip to Roma in the Europa Conference League in mind.

"The nature of our season has been riddled with injuries, the players coming back I just cannot afford to risk them playing three games in a week," he said.

“Our schedule has been so heavy. We’ve got a game on Thursday that could go into extra time as well. I have been aware of that, it is nice to be able to do that and still be competitive.

“Going forward next year if we can keep the squad as fit as we can and add a player or two then we might be up there challenging again next season.”