Tottenham Hotspur stretched their impressive H2H record against Leeds United to six wins from the last seven meetings with a 2-1 Premier League (PL) victory at Elland Road.
With Storm Amy battering the UK this weekend, it was Leeds whipping up an early storm at home, almost blowing Spurs away in the opening 10 minutes.
The Whites’ offensive approach almost paid early dividends when Sean Longstaff’s free-kick seemingly got caught up in the wind and flew over the head of Guglielmo Vicario, but Joe Rodon spared the visiting stopper’s blushes when his header crashed back off the outside of the post.
For all their early legwork, Leeds were undone by a clinical Tottenham side.
Eyebrows were raised at Mathys Tel’s inclusion from the start, but critics of his selection were left eating their words midway through the first half when he drove forward and watched on as his effort deflected off Pascal Struijk and beyond a desperate Karl Darlow dive.
Spurs were almost caught cold minutes after nosing ahead when Rodrigo Bentancur had his pocket picked in his own area.
Fortunately for him, Dominic Calvert-Lewin could only skew an effort handsomely wide when he ought to have at least hit the target, and Thomas Frank’s men were left with a burning sense of what could’ve been when they went straight up the end and squandered a gilt-edged chance of their own through Mohammed Kudus.
Spurs were left to rue that miss soon after, as Leeds got themselves back on level terms. Brenden Aaronson’s deflected effort proved too hot to handle for Vicario, and he could only fumble his save into the path of the unmarked Noah Okafor, who tapped into an empty net from inside the six-yard box.
Tel came close to restoring Tottenham’s advantage on the stroke of HT when he headed Wilson Odobert’s delivery against the crossbar, and Leeds were equally as close to taking the lead for the first time of the afternoon when Calvert-Lewin’s fierce drive was repelled by the outstretched boot of Vicario within minutes of the restart.
Vicario’s save looked even bigger shortly before the hour mark when Spurs regained the lead, as some questionable Leeds defending was punished in brutal fashion by Kudus, whose fizzing drive from the edge of the area skidded off the slick turf and flew past a hapless Darlow.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke wasn’t shy in turning to his bench in a desperate attempt to find an equaliser, but despite finishing the game with three strikers on the field, a leveller proved to be elusive.
Spurs were relatively untroubled in seeing out their first PL win since early September, and they provisionally move up to second in the table before this afternoon’s fixtures as they bid for only a second top-four finish in the last seven seasons.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mohammed Kudus (Tottenham Hotspur)
