wellnessfitpro
Key events
46 mins: Richarlison jumps for that pump forward and catches Bijol with a stray elbow. It’s unlikely that Richarlison can have seen him coming, but if the referee isn’t getting busy the Leeds physios are.
46 mins: Peeeep! Spurs kick off, roll back, and pump forward.
The players are back out and ready to roll. No halftimely substitutions to report.
“I realise that Leeds aren’t the story tonight, but I feel they haven’t been praised enough for their brilliant campaign,” writes Kari Tulinius. “I worried for them because they never seemed to have any luck, but they never got discouraged. When things go against a promoted side early on, heads start to droop and before long they’re circling the drain. Leeds played with verve and vim throughout the season.”
Their results since 1 December have been pretty extraordinary: for a newly-promoted side to have the seventh-best record in the division for most of the season – 22 games now, about to be 23 – and with fewer defeats than ever team except Manchester City, Manchester United, Bournemouth and Arsenal (with whom they’re level with four) is really something.
Also going on right now: the second leg of the Championship playoff between Millwall and Hull. They have now played three halves of football across the last four days and nobody has scored in any of them. Daniel Harris is watching it all happen:
Half time: Tottenham 0-0 Leeds
45+5 mins: The whistle blows and the half ends. Spurs have had 61.7% of possession and 10 of the 13 shots, but they need to step up the quality.
45+4 mins: Tel has seen a lot of the ball in this half, and done a couple of decent things with it (and quite a lot of less good ones). He gets a good chance to cross from the left, and loops the ball straight to Darlow.
45+2 mins: The offside decision is upheld, by a whisker. Two minutes of stoppage time were indicated and are almost up, but they have been entirely stoppage so perhaps we’ll get some more.
45 mins: Leeds want a penalty! They get an offside flag! Calvert-Lewin is played through by Tanaka at the end of a fine, swift move, and Udogie seems to drag him down by the arm. But the flag is up! VAR will of course check the offside, and then if necessary the penalty.
43 mins: Tel is brought down on the Spurs left, Stach standing briefly on top of his foot, goes down with a loud whelp, rolls around holding his ankle for a bit, and wins a free-kick.
41 mins: A yellow card! Danso trips Aaronson, less a foul than a really slow-witted tackle, and the referee takes his name.
40 mins: Tanaka lets the ball run across his body as it’s passed across the edge of the Spurs area until it’s in the perfect spot for a left-footed shot. Then he lets it run a bit further, and then he falls over trying to reach it and shoots way wide.
39 mins: This season Spurs have averaged five corners per Premier League match. They’ve just taken their sixth of the night. This one actually finds a Spurs head, but Bentancur sends it wide.
36 mins: What a chance for Joao Palhinha! Tel’s cross from the left is headed to the edge of the box by Bijol but Palhinha picks it up, cuts onto his left foot, takes it past a couple of defenders and then scoops it over the bar from about eight yards!
35 mins: “It’s not going to be a night for free-flowing, attractive football,” says Alan Smith on co-commentary. Give us something encouraging, Alan!
32 mins: Madness and chaos! Darlow is punished for holding on to the ball a bit too long, giving Spurs a corner and sending Farke into paroxysms on the touchline. The ball drops to Richarlison, who completely fluffs his shot when well placed, and then to Porro, who completely nails his when less well placed but it hits a defender.
32 mins: Chance! A ball in from the right falls to Richarlison, but his shot is weak and straight at Darlow.
31 mins: Kolo Muani is released down the right and sends in what would have been an excellent low cross had there only been any Spurs player anywhere near it.
30 mins: We have had a third of the time and it looks for all the world like a match between two sides that have been struggling near the foot of the table for much of the season.
28 mins: Danso flings a long throw into the box, Darlow pushes it to the edge of the area, and Gallagher has a volleyed effort that deflects wide for another corner.
26 mins: Now Tel does well! He cuts into the area, zags between Rodon and Tanaka, gets inside shooting range and then has an effort deflected wide.
25 mins: After a good start from Spurs, the last 10 minutes or so has been much less encouraging. “In yet another Premiership match, yet another manager (this time De Zerbi) proves my point that the time has come to put dog collars on errant coaches and pen them into technical zones using invisible fences,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “This stray-coach nonsense MUST end now, before someone gets hurt.”
23 mins: Stach goes down just outside the Spurs penalty area but the referee waves play on – replays show that he was caught by Gallagher – and Spurs break. The move ends with Tel, who’s having a bit of a stinker, struggling to work out what to do with the ball on the Spurs left wing, and eventually hitting it off a defender for a throw-in.
21 mins: Save! Now Leeds have a corner, which they more or less abstain from defending. It’s taken short to Aaronson and then crossed in to Rodon, whose header is dipping just inside the near post but Kinsky claws it out.
19 mins: What a cross from Mathys Tel! The bad news is it’s into his own penalty area, and it takes a desperate header from Danso to stop it being turned in. Tel had the ball on the Spurs left but James pestered him, forced him to run back and towards his own box, and eventually to desperately play the ball across it!
18 mins: Danso takes the ball away from Aaronson but just plays the ball straight back to him again, so this time he brings him down.
16 mins: Before Tel takes the second corner, Porro runs 30 yards to whisper something in his ear. Presumably an instruction to send a disappointing cross straight onto the head of the nearest defender, which Tel proceeds to carry out to the letter.
16 mins: A long cross from the right towards Richarlison leads to a corner. A long corner from the left towards Richarlison leads to a corner.
14 mins: The ball is played to Joao Palhinha, 25 yards out. Cries of “shoooot” ring out. He passes. Nothing comes of the move.
12 mins: Another pause, this time for the referee to give De Zerbi a bit of a dressing down. He has, we’re told, been wantonly straying from his technical area.
10 mins: Nearly a chance for Spurs! Porro plays Richarlison through, but the ball forces the Brazilian to pause and that gives the defence time to get back.
9 mins: Actually not a ball in the face but a hand. Randal Kolo Muani’s, to be precise. No violent intent is apparent, and Justin will be fine to carry on, now with some cotton wool up his nostrils.
8 mins: The physios are on to look at Leeds’ James Justin, who has taken a ball in the face and has a nosebleed.
6 mins: Spurs are absolutely dominating possession in these early minutes, but are yet to do anything very constructive with it.
3 mins: Some lovely passing from Spurs, who string about 20 passes together. At no point do they get the ball more than 40 yards from their own goal, though, and eventually they pass back to Kinsky, who pumps it forwards and gives it away.
1 mins: An early long throw from Leeds causes a modicum of chaos. Eventually James re-crosses and Struijk heads wide.
1 min: Peeeeep! Leeds, clad all in black (well, black and some funny blurry shapes), get the game going.
The players are out! The display of flags was a little underwhelming, only partly because if you’re watching on TV it was mostly covered up by a sequence of graphics.
Right then. The Spurs players are in the tunnel, currently on their own. Kick-off in four minutes, give or take.
Daniel Farke now gets a grilling:
Of course I’m proud [that Leeds have stayed up]. Fantastic achievement for us. I enjoyed a little bit the feeling yesterday evening when it was confirmed, but there’s an important game for us tonight and for that I am concentrated. I can’t waste 1% of energy to be over-emotional or to be in a good mood, we need to be fully focused tonight.
We have important players missing out today but it’s a chance for some others to shine and hopefully they can grab the opportunity today. They have my faith and I’m sure we can be competitive tonight.
Tottenham’s Kevin Danso has a quick chat:
To win always does the team good. We need the same today as we’ve shown the past two games and if we continue to do so we can get the three points today.
And what has De Zerbi done to turn things around?
Tweaks in everything. The mentality, buildup, the way we defend. He’s a fantastic manager, he’s proven it at many clubs, it’s just down to us to do what he asks on the pitch.
Sky are busy chatting about Arsenal’s win at West Ham yesterday, so I’m entirely reliant on still images to know what’s going on at Spurs. So, here’s Leeds doing important bouncing practice:
Looks like lots of All Together Always flags have been distributed behind one of the goals tonight, so look out for an eye-catching display when the teams come out in about half an hour.
Roberto De Zerbi has a chat with Sky:
We played very well in Birmingham [beating Aston Villa 2-1], and I think the whole idea was to keep the same first XI. But I’m lucky also on the bench I have good players.
We have to forget the last two wins. We have to keep just the same spirit, the same style of play, because we need to play football if we want another win tonight. And to be positive, but we can’t forget what the situation was two weeks ago.
He’s asked if the fact Leeds are now safe might make his team’s job a little easier:
Nothing changes, especially in the Premier League. You see Burnley against Villa yesterday – all games are very tough. To win we have to play our best, to fight, to run, to work, but to play according to our qualities. For sure, the first 10 minutes we have to start strong to [keep] the fans with us. But we have to play 90 minutes and extra time, because we are not in a condition to think we can close the game inside 90 minutes.
The teams
No messing about, here are today’s teams:
Tottenham Hotspur: Kinsky, Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie, Joao Palhinha, Bentancur, Muani, Gallagher, Tel, Richarlison. Subs: Austin, Dragusin, Bissouma, Maddison, Gray, Bergvall, Spence, Sarr, Souza.
Leeds: Darlow, Justin, Rodon, Bijol, Struijk, Stach, Ampadu, Tanaka, James, Calvert-Lewin, Aaronson. Subs: Lucas Perri, Longstaff, Piroe, Nmecha, Bornauw, Byram, Gnonto, Chadwick, Lienou.
Referee: Jarred Gillett.
Hello world! Yesterday, as a result of Arsenal’s victory over West Ham, Leeds United secured another season of top-flight football. Their battle against relegation is over. And today, freed from the stress of uncertainty as well as the drive of desperation, they visit one of now just two clubs still vying to avoid the drop. Will they now relax, and if so will that enable them to find a new, higher plane on which to play, or just drain them of all motivation?
Spurs would pick option two, thankyouverymuch. After winning their last two league games, both away from home, they are one point above West Ham, with significantly better goal difference, and with one game (this one) in hand. That goal difference means that if they manage to win today, West Ham are likely to need victories in both of their remaining fixtures, and for Spurs to win neither of theirs while losing at least one, if the Hammers are to be reprieved. It really feels like tonight might be decisive. But if it isn’t, you may need to know the two teams’ fixtures after today:
Tottenham
19 May: Chelsea (a)
24 May: Everton (h)
West Ham
17 May: Newcastle (a)
24 May: Leeds (h)
Plus those of Leeds, because they’re actually playing tonight so it would be rude not to:
17 May: Brighton (h)
24 May: West Ham (a)
Pre-match reading
Here’s David Hytner on Antonin Kinsky, the goalkeeper whose attitude has helped Spurs in fight for Premier League survival:
When Antonin Kinsky had his Madrid episode, there was an assumption that he would not play again for Tottenham this season. And maybe not the next one, either. The 23-year-old goalkeeper would have to rebuild himself elsewhere, probably on loan. Perhaps, given the scale of the horror against Atlético in the Champions League last 16 first leg on 10 March – and there really is no need to rake over the details – a permanent transfer may have been an option.
Kinsky’s comeback has been extraordinary; an inspiration to everybody at the club. With the first-choice selection, Guglielmo Vicario, undergoing hernia surgery towards the end of March, Roberto De Zerbi has counted on the Czech in each of his four matches in charge. The manager has not been let down.
Much more here:
#Tottenham #Leeds #Premier #League #live #Premier #League
