LEEDS UNITED  3  (2)  TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR  1  (1) 
Date : –  8th May 2021 Kick off : –  12.30
Competition : –  Premier League Venue : –  Elland Road
Crowd : –  0,000
Referee : –  Michael Oliver (Northumberland) Linesmen : – Mr. Stuart Burt; Mr. Simon Bennett
Fourth official : –  Chris Kavanagh
VAR official : –  Paul Tierney VAR Assistant : –  Neil Davies
Weather : – Rainy, cold
Leeds United kicked off the first half attacking the South Stand end
Playing time : –   90 + 7 minutes

 

LEEDS UNITED TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
GOAL-SCORERS
    Dallas  12m 48s   Son  24m 20s
    Bamford  41m 13s  
    Rodrigo  83m 20s  
CARDS
  Koch  (foul on Son)  51   Reguilon  (foul on Raphinha)  61
      Moura  (foul on Alioski)  68
 

 

LEEDS UNITED TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
1.   Illan MESLIER 1.   Hugo LLORIS (c)
     
2.   Luke AYLING  (c) 24.   Serge AURIER
14.   Diego LLORENTE 4.   Toby ALDERWEIRELD
21.   Pascal STRUIJK 15.   Eric DIER
10.   Ezgjian ALIOSKI 3.   Sergio REGUILON 
     
5.   Robin KOCH   5.   Pierre-Emile HOJBJERG
18.   Giovani LO CELSO  ( 28.  Tanguy NDOMBELE  80)  
15.   Stuart DALLAS      
11.   Tyler ROBERTS  ( 18.  RAPHINHA  58) 9.   Gareth BALE  ( 27.  Lucas MOURA  67  )
23.   Mateusz KLICH    ( 18.  Kalvin PHILLIPS  58) 20.   DELE Alli  ( 11.  Erik LAMELA  67)
22.   Jack HARRISON 7.   Heung-Min SON 
     
9.   Patrick BAMFORD    ( 20.  RODRIGO  79  ) 10.   Harry KANE
Substitutes Substitutes
13.   Kiko CASILLA 12.   Joe HART
28.   Gaetano BERARDI 2.   Matt DOHERTY
46.   Jamie SHACKLETON 6.   Davinson SANCHEZ
24.   Leif DAVIS 17.   Moussa SISSOKO
19.   Pablo HERNANDEZ 23.   Steven BERGWIJN
7.   Ian POVEDO-OCAMPO 8.   Harry WINKS

 

Manager : –  Marcelo Bielsa Manager : –  Ryan Mason
Kit Supplier : –  adidas Kit Supplier : –  Nike
Shirt Sponsor : –  SBOTOP Shirt Sponsor : –  AIA
Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : –  JD Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : –  cinch
Colours : –
Colours : –
Images of kits courtesy of the marvellous Colours of Football website

 

MATCH REPORT

Another in a long line of must-win matches for Spurs slipped out of their reach and the 1-3 defeat at Elland Road saw Leeds United effectively end any miniscule hope that there was of reaching a Champions League finishing position and put in danger any hope of European football next season for Tottenham. 

The game kicked off in heavy rainy conditions and a chilly temperature with the pitch soaked by the rain that had been falling for hours. Water was thrown up from the beginning when players ran across the pitch that Tottenham has sold to Leeds.

When Harry Kane got the ball on the right at the second attempt, his ball into the box looked for Son, but was cut out by Llorente for a corner. Bale got a touch at the near post that caused a bit of confusion, but the ball was cleared. It was Leeds who had the first decent  opportunity when a cross field pass was cut out and Bamford was freed in the left side of the box and his low shot back across Lloris was pushed wide for a corner with a diving save. The corner on their right brought another on the left and when it was played into the goalmouth from the far post, Struijk shot over the bar when it dropped for him in the middle of the goal 12 yards out.

Tottenham’s passing was a little short for the recipient and looking to take quick free-kicks ended with the ball being given away. With 12 minutes gone, a low ball in from the left by Harrison saw Reguilon’s interception force Hugo Lloris into a sharp save, but the ball dropped in front of Stuart Dallas to fire into the roof of the net from a few yards out and Leeds were in the lead. It was a blow, but it was a signal that Tottenham needed to sharpen up. 

Spurs won a corner which was flicked on at the near post by Bale and it hit Dele right in front of goal, but it came at him too quickly to do much with it. A nice little passing move put Dele in, just inside the box and his shot got blocked by Klich.

A Leeds move from the back produced a cross into the box that Aurier did well to head back to Hugo under pressure. It was quickly released to Giovani Lo Celso, who ran the ball upfield before moving the ball to Son, who passed to his left to Dele, while other players ran right. He managed to squeeze the ball between Llorente and Ayling for Heung-Min Son, into space created by Kane’s run from right to left and it allowed his fellow striker to take the ball into the box and drive it to the keeper’s left as he came out to meet him. It was a slick move on a slick surface and Spurs linked well to cut through the Leeds defence after 25 minutes.

Hugo was alert again when Harrison attacked Aurier and as Toby came to join him, the Leeds man slipped, but hit a rising shot that Lloris did well to push over the top. Then, when Leeds attacked again, Hugo punched a looping ball into the box when he could have caught it and then Dele passed the ball back across the box to Koch, whose shot was deflected wide.

Up to the other end with 30 minutes gone, Spurs produced another first-time passing move and Dele slipped Harry through this time and he dinked it over the goalkeeper to find the net, but the linesman’s flag was raised and it went to VAR, where they found him offside by millimetres to deny Tottenham going ahead.  With the game going from end to end, Dallas’s ball in from the right wing saw Serge get to it, but it dropped off his back right in front of goal, with Hojbjerg handily in the right place to clear it away. From the corner, Bale did enough to deflect Koch’s near post header wide.

Some sloppy passing from both sides caused the game to become a bit ragged, but when either side did find their players, the game opened up with both teams looking to attack. And it was Leeds who made the most of it when they moved it from the back, but Dier headed it out, only for Dallas to pick it up and move it left for Alioski to put a low ball back in the six yard box for Bamford to score from close range. There should have been enough defenders there to stop it reaching Bamford, but it found its way to him and it was Leeds who regained the lead.

Leeds were being first to most balls and when Spurs had the ball, they were not making the most of the possession and the half-time whistle must have seen Ryan Mason disappointed as the lack of concentration had let Leeds score twice and although VAR denied us the lead, you couldn’t argue that the home side deserved the lead.

The second half started with Spurs picking off a Leeds throw high up the pitch and Giovani carelessly running the ball off the pitch with no white shirt around him. The home players were tight on the Spurs players when the ball was played to them and the only way that Spurs evaded that was by running the ball up-field and when Lo Celso did that and found Kane, who finished well, but was a few yards offside when he received it. Ten minutes into the half, Kane and Dele exchanged passes from the centre circle to provide H with a shooting chance from 22 yards, but he put it wide, then Son did the same after Striujk has his pass out of defence picked off by Hojbjerg and Lo Celso put the South Korean in on the left, but his shot was wide and into the side netting.

Spurs were having a bit of joy making ground with Dier bringing the ball out from the back, but Spurs team-mates needed to make themselves available. Popping up on the left wing, Eric created some space for Kane to find Son on the edge of the box and his shot was deflected wide for a corner. From it, Leeds played it away and Reguilon got a booking for a foul on Raphina that was never a yellow card. A foul yes, but that was all.

Mateusz Klich looked like he might be in inside the Tottenham penalty area, but Dele got there first, although he then gave the ball away to Harrison, who laid it back for Klich to look for the far top corner. Hugo leapt up to his right to make a very good save to push the ball wide. The game was still seeing Leeds the more urgent, with some of the Spurs players looking tired. Dele and Gareth came off as they were not getting into the game in the second half, with Lamela and Moura coming on halfway through the second half.

Moura got booked within a minute for throwing an arm across Alioski after the Leeds man had pulled him back and then Struijk pulled Lucas down and was not shown a yellow card. Lamela then slipped and allowed the ball to go to a Leeds player, who couldn’t put Bamford free. Then Spurs attacked down the right and Serge whipped in a ball that came off Alioski and Meslier had to react well to push the ball over the bar. The corner was cleared, but Harrison pulled Reguilon back a couple of yards outside the box and Harry Kane struck the top of the bar with the free-kick.

Raphinha went away down the Leeds left wing and pulled it back for Klich, but his shot was blocked by Toby. Tottenham attacked down their left and took an age to get the ball into the area, but Gio’s cross was headed out by a defender and the corner missed all the green shirts in the box. Only poor finishing allowed Spurs to avoid going another goal behind, as Klich, Bamford and Harrison were allowed to play the ball around comfortably in the area and the final shot found Harrison putting it way too high.

Chances were coming at both ends, with Kane putting Lamela through in the box and from a narrow angle, he hit the keeper with his effort. Tottenham’s corners lacked any potency, with high balls rarely won by one of their players and when Hugo kicked the ball out it was usually a white shirt underneath it. With Spurs players allowing Leeds men to get away from them, Klich had the opportunity to shoot from 20 yard and trying to bend it into the top corner, he put too much on it and it went over.

Rodrigo didn’t make that mistake with a shot from an unmarked position after Raphinha put it back to him from the left side and he drilled it in from 12 yards out, with Spurs exposed. It looked as if he was offside, but the millimetres went in Leeds favour again.

Hugo stopped another shot as Rodrigo tried to bend a shot around Dier and the captain dived to his left to push the ball wide. Lamela broke on the left side but chose to shoot when Son was in space outside him and the ball went wide across the goal. Moura was constantly being pulled back as he got away from Alioski, but there was no free-kick given and it was slightly odd that Regi got a yellow card for his first foul, while Alioski committed a series of niggling fouls that he was allowed to get away with.

The game got away from Tottenham, as they did not match the effort Leeds put in. Shaper and quicker, they didn’t quite dominate the game, but they dominated Spurs and kept the pressure on which paid off with many more chances made than the ones they scored. It was disappointing, as it was clear that the only slim chance Tottenham had of making a push for fourth place would mean that they had to win all the remaining games. After this defeat, that hope has gone and on the form during Mourinho’s later days and today, they probably don’t deserve.

Having seen off Leeds at home in January, they learned and stopped playing it out from the back as poorly as they did then and by closing down the space the Spurs players have and getting to the first and second balls before we did. It was always going to be a difficult match, but the approach the Spurs team took, it was even harder.

Steve H (Enfield)

 

MATCH NOTES

Eric Dier played his 200th Premier League match for Tottenham.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made his 50th Tottenham appearance.

 

OTHER RESULTS
Leicester City 2 Newcastle United 4
Sheffield United 0 Crystal Palace 2
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 2
Liverpool 2 South Coast Big Club 0
Woolwich Wanderers 3 West Bromwich Albion 1
Aston Villa 1 Manchester United 3
Fulham 0 Burnley 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
West Ham United London 0 Everton 1

Premier League Table 2020-21

Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points Goal difference
1 Manchester City 35 25 5 5 72 26 80 +46
2 Manchester United 34 20 10 4 67 30 70 +31
3 Chelsea 35 18 10 7 55 32 64 +23
4 Leicester City 35 19 6 10 63 63 63 +20
5 West Ham United London 35 17 7 11 55 45 58 +10
6 Liverpool 33 16 9 9 57 39 57 +18
7 Tottenham Hotspur 35 16 8 11 61 41
56 +20
8 Everton 34 16 7 11 46 42 55 +4
9 Woolwich Wanderers 35 15 7 13 49 38 52 +11
10 Leeds United 35 15 5 15 53 53 50 0
11 Aston Villa 34 14 6 14 49 41 48 +8
12 Wolverhampton Wanderers 35 12 9 14 35 47 45 -12
13 Crystal Palace 34 11 8 15 36 56 41 -20
14 Newcastle United
35 10 9 16 40 58 39 -18
15 Burnley 35 10 9 16 33 47 39 -14
16 Brighton & Hove Albion
35 8 13 14 36 41 37 -5
17 South Coast Big Club 34 10 7 17 41 61 37 -20
18 Fulham 35 5 12
18 25 47 27 -22
19 West Bromwich Albion 35 5 11 19 32 68 26 -36
20 Sheffield United 35 5 2 28 18 62 17 -44