Tottenham Hotspur became the first team to beat Leeds in a league game at Elland Road in over a year after Mohammed Kudus got the winner in the second-half.
Spurs took the lead through Mathys Tel in the 23rd minute but Noah Okafor levelled for Leeds 11 minutes later and just before the hour mark, Kudus’ strike deflected off Pascal Struijk and past Karl Darlow.
The three points took Thomas Frank’s side to second before Arsenal play later on Saturday, while Leeds are 12th after seven games.
Aadam Patel was at Elland Road to analyse the action…
Fortress Elland Road?
Before the game, Leeds’ Anton Stach said ‘good fans can win you four or five points’ over a season. Leeds have been solid at home with Everton, Newcastle and Bournemouth all failing to win at Elland Road this season but Tottenham battled their way to a crucial three points here and in doing so, ended Leeds’ 23-game run of going over a year without losing a home league game.
Spurs also ended a run of their own. Going into this, they’d lost their last seven matches immediately before an international break – a run that went back to October 2023.
Noah Okafor cancelled out Mathys Tel’s early opener for Leeds at Elland Road
Spurs sharpen the knife
Spurs went into this game with own goals as their top scorer and that told you enough about the work Thomas Frank’s side needed to do in the final third. All eyes were on Mathys Tel as he led the line, with Richarlison on the bench.
Tel’s goal did his confidence a world of good even if his strike took a deflection. It was the 20-year-old’s first goal of the season and he nearly got a second on the brink of half-time when his header hit the crossbar.
It was also a brilliant day too for Mohammed Kudus, who assisted Tel then got the winner with a deflected strike of his own.
Mohammed Kudus scored his first goal in a Tottenham shirt to restore Spurs’ advantage
Darlow’s a keeper
For Leeds, Karl Darlow has been solid in net since Lucas Perri was ruled out with injury and even though Perri has returned to training, it would not be the biggest surprise if Darlow keeps his spot after the international break.
The Welsh keeper was unlucky to be beaten twice here through deflected efforts. As for Spurs, doubts remain over Guglielmo Vicario, who was all over the place from a set-piece early on and arguably should have done better for Leeds’ equaliser but the Italian made a terrific save to deny Dominic Calvert-Lewin when the score was 1-1 and another to deny Joel Piroe in injury time.
Karl Darlow has done an excellent job stepping in for Lucas Perri between the sticks for Leeds
Calvert-Lewin haunted by old demons
Daniel Farke named an unchanged side for the third game in succession and that meant another start for Dominic Calvert-Lewin up top. He caused Spurs plenty of problems, getting into dangerous positions and playing a part in Leeds’ leveller but crucially failed to take two huge chances.
The signs are there of a quality centre-forward but Leeds really need him to start taking these opportunities. With 12 minutes to go, Farke threw on Lukas Nmecha and Joel Piroe too but between the three of them, they failed to get the equaliser.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin caused plenty of problems for Spurs but once again failed to score
Frank finally gets his man
With 14 points from seven games in the Premier League and just one defeat across all competitions so far, Spurs have made an impressive start to life under Frank. They did brilliantly to withstand the Leeds pressure in the first half then controlled the game after retaking the lead in the second half.
The introduction of centre-half Kevin Danso for Wilson Odobert helped to take the sting out of the game and at the sixth time of asking, Frank finally defeated Farke. Make no mistake, this was a massive three points.
