Leeds United drew Spurs to a well-deserved 1-1 tie on Monday night, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalizing Mathys Tel’s goal.
Leeds had nothing to play for last night when we traveled down to Spurs, since survival was assured 24 hours earlier. However, personal pride, league ranking, and economic benefit were all sufficient reasons for Leeds to go out and defeat Spurs.
However, we suffered more injury concerns, with Jayden Bogle missing the game due to hamstring issues. We then lost Pascal Struijk to hip issues halfway through the game.
Spurs 1-1 Leeds United: Dominic Calvert-Lewin hushed North London in a frantic second half.
Mathys Tel scored a wonderful goal into the top corner after a snoozing first half.
Spurs had the bulk of the ball in the first hour, since Leeds appeared to be a team missing with our objective already accomplished. But Daniel Farke made two clever substitutions to turn the game around, bringing on Willy Gnonto and Lukas Nmecha in place of the ineffective Brenden Aaronson and Dan James.
Leeds took control thanks to increased motivation, and we ultimately earned a penalty when goal scorer Tel overhead kicked Ethan Ampadu in the face. After a five-minute VAR review, Jarred Gillet awarded what seemed to be a clear penalty in real time, which Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted with a powerful penalty, shushing the home audience as he walked away.
Leeds had a wonderful opportunity to take the lead in extra time when replacement Sean Longstaff burst down the right and unleashed a strong shot that was deflected in. However, Antonin Kinsky made his second spectacular save of the game, denying the midfielder.
James Maddison then collapsed very late on in what appeared to be a legitimate foul by Lukas Nmecha in the box. However, replays revealed a minor touch by the German player on the ball, prompting the VAR to rightly dismiss claims.
The game ended 1-1, with Leeds moving up to 14th place and Spurs two points ahead of relegation with two games to go.
Roberto De Zerbi: “We hope” Leeds United do not fold against West Ham.
Last night, Roberto De Zerbi was the most energetic person at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Understandably, of course, his team is in the midst of a relegation fight, and a victory last night would have essentially secured their safety.
Pundits had a lot to say about whether Leeds would be ‘on the beach’ for last night’s match, but that valiant performance dispelled any notion that Farke’s players were not giving their all.
However, De Zerbi hopes that Leeds will perform equally well when we face West Ham on the final day.
“We played a decent game, not great, but there was tremendous pressure. We didn’t play calm,” the Italian said to Sky Sports after full-time.
Without a question, Leeds United will play at full intensity against West Ham.
“We wanted to win right away. In the end, I believe we must fight until the end of the season. Leeds played a strong game. We want them to play like this against West Ham since it is proper this way. “
The fact that Leeds were the better team as the game progressed against Spurs, despite being a goal down, speaks volumes for their mentality.
Spurs had a fantastic chance against us, due to our injuries, but they performed horribly. There was very little in their performance to indicate that they deserve to be ranked higher than 17th.
However, as we approach our last two games, it is obvious that we will not visit West Ham on the final day and phone it in.
We will show up and compete to win, finishing as high as possible.
