Tottenham Hotspur are back to winning ways with a victory on the road against Leeds United and it was a special day for two players in particular.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Leeds.
Mohammed Kudus shines with goal and assist for Tottenham
Mohammed Kudus has been a wonderful signing for Tottenham Hotspur, but his record in front of goal had been disappointing before this afternoon’s fixture.
The winger scored a very good goal against Wolves last weekend, but it was disallowed after the linesman raised his flag.
However, Kudus is now officially on the scoresheet after scoring the winning goal against Leeds. He assisted Mathys Tel too and was Tottenham’s man of the match.
Mathys Tel scores his first Tottenham goal of the season
Tel has not played much this season, but when he has, his performances have been concerning. Up until today, the young Frenchman failed to make any notable contributions.
It was a different story for Tel at Elland Road, as he got a shot on goal which went in after a deflection. He nearly found the back of the net for a second time shortly before half-time, but was denied by the crossbar.
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Hopefully, this is the start of a turning point for Tel at Spurs. His confidence must have taken some knocks, especially after the abuse he suffered following the UEFA Super Cup.
Tel has certainly benefited from Randal Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke being out of action and if he gets another chance, he must show he brings more to the table than his competitors.
Xavi Simons was better but not perfect
The pressure was on for Xavi Simons to perform as soon as he arrived at Tottenham. Unfortunately, his first few appearances have been very underwhelming, with the left wing clearly not suiting his style of play.
Simons was much better today and played a couple of very good forward passes. However, he would do well to stick to the fundamentals when appropriate because there were times when he tried to do too much.
There was one moment when the midfielder could have set up Cristian Romero, but he attempted a rabona pass which failed to reach his target.
Simons has plenty of room for improvement, but there were signs today of what he can do. A few more appearances in the central attacking position and he could have his breakthrough moment at Tottenham.
Thomas Frank switches up his Tottenham formation
Thomas Frank has recently received his first taste of scrutiny from the Spurs supporters. Fingers have been pointed at the manager for a number of his decisions, including the system he has implemented.
The Dane switched things up today with a more fluid setup, which saw Simons join Tel at the heart of the Tottenham attack and it worked a treat.
Spurs had some good attacking spells during the match and managed to score another two goals and claim all three points.
Spurs end their international break curse
Tottenham suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season directly before the last international break, a 1-0 home loss to Bournemouth. In fact, Spurs had lost their past seven matches immediately before an international break.
That unwanted streak was finally brought to an end this afternoon as Tottenham inflicted a first home defeat on Leeds since February, when Millwall knocked them out of the FA Cup.
Spurs now go into the break in a strong position. Other clubs have a game in hand, but Tottenham are second in the Premier League table as things stand.