Report: Leeds United 1
Premier League
Leeds United 1 (Okafor 34’)
Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Tel 23’, Kudus 57’)
Leeds: Darlow (GK), Bogle (Justin 89’), Gudmundsson (Nmecha 79’), Ampadu (C), Struijk, Rodon, Longstaff, Calvert-Lewin, Aaronson (Harrison 67’), Stach (Tanaka 67’), Okafor (Piroe 79’). Subs not used: Meslier (GK), Bijol, Bornauw, Gruev.
Spurs: Vicario (GK), Palhinha, Simons (Matar Sarr 74’), Tel (Richarlison 73’), Udogie, Romero (C), Kudus (Johnson 90’), Porro, Odobert (Danso 84’), Bentancur, van de Ven. Subs not used: Kinsky (GK), Gray, Bergvall, Spence, Davies.
Venue: Elland Road
Attendance: 36,703
Referee: Thomas Bramall
Booked: Ampadu, Okafor (Leeds) Kudus, Palhinha, Romero (Spurs)
Leeds United were narrowly defeated 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon, with Noah Okafor’s quickfire equaliser cancelled out by Mohammed Kudus’ winner after the break.
The Swiss international had levelled proceedings on the 34th minute mark, capitalising on a rebound following some nice play from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Brenden Aaronson, nullifying Mathys Tel’s deflected opener ten minutes prior.
However, Spurs were put back ahead by Kudus in the 57th minute, as the tricky forward cut inside and shot with a deflection taking the ball past Karl Darlow in the Whites’ goal.
Boss Daniel Farke had named an unchanged starting XI from last time out at home to AFC Bournemouth, as all players retained their spots following the 2-2 draw.
Leeds came close in the early stages of the game, as Okafor’s trickery down the left was rewarded with a corner that was floated by Sean Longstaff to Anton Stach but the German’s volley sailed just wide.
Two minutes later, Longstaff’s set-pieces caused problems again, as a freekick on the left wing was delivered to the back post where an arriving Joe Rodon rattled the post with his header, before the following cross just evaded Pascal Struijk before he could direct towards goal.
After soaking up the early pressure, the visitors came forward themselves and as the ball was played to the edge of the box from the right wing, the arriving Joao Palhinha took aim but fired well over the bar.
As Spurs continued prying at the Whites’ backline, Kudus broke down the right flank, forcing Gabriel Gudmundsson to showcase some superb last-ditch defending to dispossess the Tottenham man and clear the danger.
Darlow was the first ‘keeper to make a save as the visitors looked to break, making a simple but necessary stop to deny Destiny Udogie’s fizzed ball from causing problems, following some neat play involving the Spurs full-back and Xavi Simons.
This spell paid off when Tel gave the away team the lead in the 23rd minute, as he was played in-behind by Kudus and fired towards goal, seeing his strike take a wicked deflection and find the back of the net.
Calvert-Lewin almost levelled the score immediately, as he latched onto a loose ball inside the box but as he cut past the defender, the angle closed and his effort cleared the bar.
Spurs then came forward again with Udogie breaking down the left wing and near the byline, where he pulled the ball back across the edge of the box for Kudus but the Ghanaian’s strike was high and wide.
The Whites levelled the score in the 35th minute, as Jayden Bogle whipped a deep cross to the feet of Calvert-Lewin who expertly laid the ball off to Aaronson to strike towards goal.
Guglielmo Vicario initially made an impressive save but, luckily for Leeds, his parry was only as far as Okafor who snuck in at the back post to tap into the back of the net.
The Whites, looking for a quickfire second goal, continued pushing as Stach’s brilliant tackle high up the pitch was laid off to Longstaff on the edge of the area. The midfielder’s initial strike was blocked but at the second bite he fired over the bar.
As four minutes of added time were announced, the visitors came forward again with Wilson Odobert lofting a cross into the box which was met by the head of Tel who rattled the bar before Leeds cleared the danger, marking the final action of an exciting first half.
HALF TIME: Leeds United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
As the rain started to fall on Elland Road, both teams emerged for the second half unchanged with Leeds immediately on the front foot.
Stach threaded through to Okafor who darted towards to box before picking out Calvert-Lewin in the area. The forward turned smartly and took aim, forcing a strong save from Vicario.
Stach then reclaimed possession on the right wing, finding a yard and firing the ball across the face of goal where a number of white shirts were unable to divert into the back of the net.
Spurs retook the lead once again in the 57th minute. Kudus latched on to Pedro Porro’s lofted ball and cut inside before striking from the edge of the box, finding the bottom corner as the ball again took a big deflection to wrongfoot Darlow.
The first action from the Leeds dugout fell in the 67th minute with Farke seeking another response to going a goal down, as Jack Harrison and Ao Tanaka were brought on in place of Aaronson and Stach.
Freshly introduced Tanaka was immediately involved, bursting through the lines and playing the ball across to Longstaff who turned and shot but his effort was just wide of the post.
With the Whites still pushing for an equaliser, Farke looked to his bench once again in the 79th minute, this time introducing Joël Piroe and Lukas Nmecha to the action in place of Gudmundsson and Okafor.
With six added minutes declared at the end of the second half, Leeds pushed forward once more and as the ball fell to Longstaff on the edge of the area again he took aim, but could only find the wrong side of the post.
Vicario then clawed out another exceptional save, diving low to his left to deny substitute Piroe from scoring as he half-volleyed from just inside the box, following some tidy interplay.
From the resulting set-piece, Struijk rose highest but his header was redirected away for another corner. That was cleared as far to Piroe, who headed back at Christian Romero but claims for handball in the box were waved away and soon after, Thomas Bramall blew the full time whistle.
Leeds will now head into the October international break on eight points and will return to action two weeks today away at Burnley.
