Son Heung-min kept in check in Tottenham's draw at Europa League

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 11 (Yonhap) -- Captain Son Heung-min logged 79 minutes of action without contributing to the offense in Tottenham Hotspur's draw at the second-tier European club football tournament.

Son registered a couple of shot attempts in Tottenham's 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the opening leg of the quarterfinals at the UEFA Europa League at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Thursday (local time).

The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday in Frankfurt, Germany.

The ongoing Europa League is the last remaining opportunity for Tottenham to win their first trophy since capturing the 2008 English Football League (EFL) Cup.

This season, they were knocked out in the semifinals of the EFL Cup and in the fourth round of the FA Cup. They are well out of contention in the Premier League, where they are in 14th place entering the weekend's action.

Son, who made his senior professional debut in 2010 with Hamburger SV in Germany and joined Tottenham in 2015, is in pursuit of his first career trophy.

In Thursday's match, Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring for Frankfurt in the sixth minute, following a James Maddison turnover.

Maddison atoned for his miscue by assisting Pedro Porro's equalizer in the 26th minute.

Son tested goalkeeper Kaua Santos with his patented, right-footed curler from outside the box in the 56th minute, and the Brazilian custodian was up to the task.

Son was one of three starting players to be replaced in the 79th minute, but those substitutions failed to give Tottenham the extra spark down the stretch.

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