Leeds United (Home) 11.05.2026

While I have no beef about the two penalty decisions, both looked the correct decision from where I was sitting, the ineptitude of an Australian officiating in the self-styled “best league in the world” let the game down by his inability to apply the laws of the game consistently across the 107 minutes this match lasted, much of which was due to him being unable to control the game.  How Tottenham ended up with four bookings is bizarre.  Porro’s came in what looked like a 50-50 challenge, while the late foul on Mathys Tel in the opening few minutes was as bad as anything in the match and escaped without a booking.  It wasn’t the fact that he booked so many Spurs players, but dirty Leeds still harbour the spirit of 1970, with snide fouls and time-wasting that the abject referee allowed them to get away with.  Ampadu was the main culprit – elbowing James Maddison in the head and making a charge from a 25 yards away to take Micky van de Ven out with an arm across his chest and getting the handball when the Spurs skipper fell on the ball and grabbed it, correctly thinking he was going to get a free-kick for the push that sent him sprawling without the Leeds player having a hope of getting the ball.  Richarlison gets the rough end of the stick from officials, constantly being hauled down from behind when trying to receive the ball and even when he has two arms around his neck, still nothing is given.  It is almost incomprehensible how goals are ruled out for fouls from corners, when this is what refs let go.

Why Spurs have not been awarded a penalty all season is another mystery, with other teams getting penalties every time they fall over in the box.  Maybe there are even darker forces at work or am I reading conspiracy theories into it just as most other teams relegated from the Premier League do ?  I seem to remember Sheffield United fans saying the same thing, but let’s hope that we don’t go the same way as them.

The game started in frenetic style, with both sides losing possession, getting it back and then losing it again.  Spurs had a glimpse of goal in the ninth minute when Pedro Porro threaded a ball through the Leeds defence for Richarlison, but his first touch was heavy as he moved into the box and that allowed Joe Rodon to get back to shield the ball back to Darlow.

The “In Memoriam” tribute to Spurs fans and players who had died in the previous year was touching, with a couple of families seemingly losing fathers and sons and the youngsters shown on the big screen gave you a lump in the throat. 

The second half started with a stoppage with Richarlison jumping with Ampadu, but clumping Bijol in the head accidentally, with the injured party coming in behind him.  After four minutes of the second half, Porro broke up a Leeds move and sent Randal Kolo Muani away down the right, coming inside to win a corner.  It was headed away to the edge of the area to Mathys Tel, who trapped it with the underside of his boot, killing it dead.  Looking up, he planted a shot back across the keeper and high into the top corner of the net with a very well-placed effort that gave Tottenham the lead.

Calvert-Lewin was allowed first to push Palhinha over from behind when going for a header and then came down on the back of his calf with his studs.  A free-kick ?  Of course not.

Kolo Muani did really well to lift the ball over substitute Bornauw and then square the ball for Richarlison, who was near the penalty spot, but it came to him quickly and was a little behind him and his volley went way too high.

A nice interchange of Leeds passing in the Spurs half laid on a shot for James, but his effort was wild and went high and wide.  It was in this phase of the game that Tottenham started to drop a little deeper allowing the opposition to get some passes going and when Palhinha stamped on Bornauw’s foot he got a yellow card.  Consistent refereeing ? Don’t even bother asking.  A long throw was headed away and a follow-up shot was deflected up into the air where Mathys Tel attempted an overhead kick to clear it, but Ampadu came in from behind him and got a boot to the head.  Play was allowed to continue and eventually stopped for a head injury when Spurs were outside the Leeds box.  VAR sent the Aussie to the monitor and we all knew what was coming.  A penalty and a goal as Calvert-Lewin sent it too high for Toni to save even though he went the correct way to his right.

With 16 minutes still to play, everything was possible.  Rodon popped up on the right wing to pull a ball back into the heart of the box and Nmecha got there, but Palhinha got enough of a block for the ball to go gently through to Kinsky.  With Palhinha and Gallagher looking a bit leggy, it was a surprise when De Zerbi brought on Bergvall for Bentancur.  Unofrtunately, the impact the Swede made was less effective than when he came on against Brighton to win the ball and set up a goal straight away.  Then Porro got a touch on the ball as he looked to play it forward, catching Justin on the top of the foot with his follow-through, so the match official brought out a yellow card which was ridiculous and again, showed a massive amount of inconsistency with what was to come in the last minute.

A massive ripple of excitement went around the ground as James Maddison warmed up and then got ready to come on for Tel, with Spence replacing Destiny with five minutes of normal time remaining.  It had been 277 days since his pre-season ACL injury and Madders got a great reception as he stepped onto the field.  The Spurs crowd were right behind the team with the game still in the balance and then there were 13 minutes of added time to come. 

A corner was headed on by Palhinha with the ball hitting Danso in the middle of the area, but it was kicked away and after the second phase brought another cross, a clearance fell to Bergvall who could only slice it over the bar.  Ampadu then went in on Maddison with an elbow into his head, with the ball running to Porro, the Leeds captain then took Palhinha out after the whistle had been blown.  The outcome ?  A free-kick to Tottenham and a booking for De Zerbi.  Totally unbelievable.  Seven minutes into added time, the referee started to get pernickety about where Kevin Danso should take a throw in.  This coming after his insouciance about where Leeds took their throws and free-kicks in the previous 101 minutes.  The annoying thing about this is that nobody will censure him for his performance.  There is no accountability to anyone and for someone to be refereeing in what is claimed to an elite league just makes a mockery of everything coaches are trying to achieve.  But wait … worse was to come.

A good move by Spurs sent Gallagher into the box, but surrounded by four players, he eventually lost the ball, although could have gone down as it looked like Gnonto made contact with him, but then having not had a penalty all season, it was unlikely to be given.  But wait …  Worse was to come.

Almost straight away from the free-kick given against Conor in that incident after he lost the ball, Leeds broke forward and a pass into the left side of the box from Justin had substitute Longstaff running onto it on the left hand corner of the six yard box.  From a tight angle, he leathered a left foot shot at goal that hit the bar and bounced out.  A lucky escape for Tottenham ?  No, actually a fantastic save from Kinsky who reacted brilliantly to get a right hand up to the ball struck from four yards away and push it up onto the bar.   A corner followed with more danger to the Spurs goal as it went way beyond the back of the penalty area and Stach played it in from the left, Bijol headed it on and Longstaff came in at the far post, but could only hook it across goal from close to the dead-ball line.  

A long throw from Danso hit Calvert-Lewin and Palhinha hit the loose ball at goal but it was blocked for a corner.  That was played short by Pedro to Maddison, who jinked past Nmecha, who brought him down.  Howls for a penalty from the Spurs faithful, but from the other side of the pitch where I was it looked like it was going to be a corner.  And that was what it was.  After 20 seconds of looking at it VAR decided that Nmecha had touched the ball first before making contact with Maddison.  I refer to the previous case of Porro getting booked for playing the ball before he made contact with Justin, which the referee gave a free-kick for.  This sort of buck-passing is becoming all too common in football where a referee doesn’t have to make a decision, because his mates will bail him out when they need to.  The Leeds penalty, which was much more obvious to me took a long time looking at video reviews to award a penalty.  This was dismissed out of hand.  But then, we shouldn’t be surprised as a penalty hasn’t been something we are accustomed to since the last home game of last season.  I’ve almost forgotten what it is like (much like a home win).

Richi had a late shot from a long diagonal ball from Gallagher, but it was blocked for the 13th Spurs corner of the match, which was headed beyond the far post by a Leeds defender for another one.  The game ended with a foul on Maddison, but we didn’t even get that as any final opportunity to play the ball in as the full time whistle went.  Spurs players hit the turf, through frustration and fatigue.

The hustle-bustle nature of the game meant that any interception Spurs made seemed to go Leeds’ way and most decisions (with many of them exceedingly soft) went the way of the visitors.  It was a nervy game and the pressure on the Spurs players seemed to weight heavy, trying too hard to get things going and often hurrying passes or not being able to control over-hit passes.  The outcome could have been better and also could have been worse without Kinsky’s wonder save.  It leaves it still in our hands and two wins (or even one and a draw dependant on other results) could be enough, but I would prefer not to go into the Everton match needing anything.  Having seen fans on the final day in agonies as their team plays out their final match with relegation still a possibility, it is not something I particularly want to go through, but, as the young people say, it is what it is.  It is not about this game or any other during the season, but it is the 38 games as a whole and we will finish where we deserve to finish.  Let’s hope it is above the dotted line.