Spurs were within minutes of delivering an outcome that would give life to their fight for survival in the Premier League. However, the London-based outfit finished Monday night with another nightmare of a mistake from their Défense. The 1-1 draw between Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United is a tale of two halves, with Mathys Tel moving from hero to zero as his side remains on the brink of falling into the Championship.
All evening long, it seemed like Tottenham Hotspur had finally acquired the backbone needed to distance themselves from the relegation zone. However, the match ended with a late penalty awarded to Leeds United, which was duly scored by Dominic Calvert-Lewin to keep the game level.
The Match Action
The first half was an edgy affair given the pressure on the home side. Tottenham, who clearly felt the pressure brought about by their rivals’ loss during the weekend, had problems playing fluently. They came close in the first 45 minutes via a strange situation involving Leeds’ goalkeeper Karl Darlow being booked for holding the ball for too long. From that point onwards, Richarlison fluffed his opportunity despite being well-positioned, while Pedro Porro failed to capitalize on the ensuing scramble.
It took six minutes after half-time for the fireworks to start. After being delivered a corner, the ball was headed clear towards the edge of the penalty box where Mathys Tel stood. The 21-year-old managed to control the ball with ease before whipping in a superbly taken shot into the far post, creating pure elation at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. For the Spurs at the time, there was a sizeable four-point buffer separating them from relegation.
Nevertheless, things were not meant to last that way, and it ended in disaster for Spurs in the 73rd minute when, in an effort to kick away an aerial ball in his own box, the scorer Tel caught the Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu with a kick to the head. This led to the referee pointing to the spot after consulting VAR.
Dom Calvert-Lewin took the responsibility in the 74th minute, converting his spot-kick into a goal past AntonÃn Kinský and restoring parity on the scoreboard.
The Spurs threw themselves at attacking the goal desperately, earning 14 corners in total, but could not capitalize on any of them. Surprisingly, Leeds almost managed to clinch victory in the stoppage time as Sean Longstaff’s thunderous strike hit the post off a miraculous reaction save by Kinsky.
The Aftermath
It is an even more bitter result for Roberto De Zerbi to cope with; although his side earned a point and improved their tally to 38 points, two ahead of West Ham United.
“We played a good game, but not great,” a visibly frustrated De Zerbi said post-match. “We didn’t play calm. We wanted to win immediately, without patience. I’m sorry for the penalty we conceded because Tel had a great game, but we have to fight until the very end of the season.”
It was a sign of maturity shown by Leeds. Although there was no threat for the side to get relegated this time, Daniel Farke’s side were determined not to give Tottenham an easy game.
“We showed great resilience against all adversity,” Farke noted proudly. “Once you go 1-0 down it can be very difficult… It says a lot about our character.”
Now, Tottenham must brace themselves for tough battles on the way, knowing that any further slip-ups could see their proud Premier League status slip away.
