Tottenham Hotspur players Son Heung-Min and Hugo Lloris engaged with each other in a shocking altercation at the half time during their team’s Premier League tie with Everton at home. The incident became the highlight of Spurs’ 1-0 victory on Monday.

As Son walked towards the tunnel at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after the half-time whistle, French goalkeeper Lloris confronted the South Korean, shouting at him and shoving his shoulder. Reportedly, Lloris was angered by Son’s failure to close down a loose ball during the opening half’s play.

Even though he is known for his calm and placid behaviour on and off the field, Son reacted angrily to Lloris and the spat went on the verge of a serious escalation before the pair was divided by teammates. However, the issue got allayed as both the players hugged each other after the match.

“I think to concede a chance a few seconds before half-time because we didn’t make a press annoyed me. But yeah, that’s football,” Lloris said as quoted by AFP (accessed via PTI).

“It just belongs to the changing room. Outside you can say whatever you want. What happened is just part of football sometimes.

“Let’s be honest, we are in a situation we are not happy with so we have to fight, to make sure we all go in the same direction.

“Most important is to stay focused on the team. We can only do it as a team.

“When you play a season like this one it’s very easy to fall apart but we showed we are still together.

“There is no problem at all. You could see after the game we were fine,” the World Cup-winning gloveman explained.

Meanwhile, the Spurs registered their second victory since the resumption of the English Premier League after the COVID-19 hiatus with a stroke of luck. Everton defender Michael Keane scored a first-half own goal to hand his team a defeat in what was almost an evenly-balanced contest.

The goal was a result of a determined attack from Son and Spurs skipper Harry Kane. After the Korean football team captain found his English counterpart in the Everton box, Kane’s effort to get his team a lead deflected to Lo Celso, whose shot was going wide until Keane mistakenly directed it to his own net.

The victory helped the Jose Mourinho-managed side to climb up to the eighth spot and kept their hopes alive of a Europa League berth next season. After playing the final in UEFA Champions League last season, failure to feature in any European competition next season will be a dubious first for the club in more than 10 years.

The rest of the game did not see much desperate attempts from either side, while Tottenham held their fort firm in the second half. However, Everton did raise their ante in the stoppage time but it was all too late for the Merseyside team.