Winning run ended at Leeds
We suffered our first defeat in five Premier League games on Saturday afternoon as Leeds United edged us 1-0 at Elland Road.
In what was a tight, tense and often fractious encounter, the game was settled 11 minutes from time as Noah Okafor stepped off the bench to clip home the only goal of the game.
Heading into the match looking to make it four wins on the bounce, we knew we faced a tough test with the hosts unbeaten at home since March. Add to that the warning Roberto De Zerbi had given in his pre-game press conference, highlighting how a new test awaited us at Elland Road.
And we met that test head on as we were forced to weather something of a storm in the opening 10 minutes as the hosts, backed by their vocal support, didn’t let us breathe. With every tackle, block and slip ramping up the noise inside the storied ground, we had to stand up to it, and we did that admirably.
Battling valiantly through those opening exchanges, we grew into the game from that point and largely controlled the first 45 minutes.
Neither side created many chances of note with Leeds’ early efforts wayward while our follow-ups were tame with both Omar Marmoush and Mohammed Kudus seeing efforts saved comfortably by James Trafford.
The major talking point from the first half came with just over half-an-hour played. Just inside our half on the left-hand side, Leeds defender Jayden Bogle caught Mathys Tel with his studs pressed down on our number 11’s heel, leaving him on the turf writhing in serious discomfort. The referee awarded a free-kick but nothing more. The VAR then reviewed the incident before deciding that there was no serious foul play to be answered. Tel was forced off six minutes later.
The earlier storm circled once again after the break leaving us with another test to overcome. Leeds were right at it from the off in the second period and so nearly broke the deadlock with five minutes played following the restart. Micky van de Ven had just about diverted a cross behind for a corner before Dominic Solanke blocked an effort on the line and Gabriel Gudmundsson headed off target. Three minutes later, Leeds were in again with Ao Tanaka clearing the bar from close range.
With 65 minutes gone, it looked like the storm was clearing. A triple change bringing Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski into the fray looked to have changed the tide, especially when Gallagher drilled just wide of the upright after a well-crafted team move on 68 minutes.
However, moments later, it was clear that storm had not dissipated with Antonin Kinsky given his first real challenge of the day when Dominic Calvert-Lewin volleyed towards goal, but our man between the sticks did brilliantly to tip the ball over with his fingertips. He then produced the same heroics six minutes later to deny Sean Longstaff as he swivelled and shot from inside the area.
On 79 minutes though, he could do nothing to deny Okafor as, just minutes after being substituted on, the forward prodded the ball past him from just inside the box.
We rallied in the final 10 minutes as we looked to salvage something from the game and came agonisingly close to levelling on 90 minutes as leading goalscorer Jan Paul van Hecke headed towards goal, but his effort was brilliantly saved by Trafford.
Roberto De Zerbi made just one change to the team that defeated Crystal Palace a week ago with Pedro Porro returning to the starting line-up for the first time since September, as Solanke was named among the substitutes. Bentancur also returned to the matchday squad after completing his three-game ban while young goalkeeper Luca Gunter was named in a Premier League matchday squad for the very first time.
Next up for us is the visit of Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Saturday 21 November.
Line-ups
Leeds United (3-5-2): Trafford, Justin, Elvedi, Muharemovic, Bogle (Rodon 90+2), Ampadu (c), Longstaff (Gruev 90+2), Tanaka (Wilson 77), Gudmundsson (Bard 46), Nmecha (Okafor 77), Calvert-Lewin. Substitutes (not used): Zetterer, Hames, Aaronson, Bijol.
Spurs (4-3-3): Kinsky, Pedro Porro (Gallagher 65), van Hecke, van de Ven (c), Robertson, M Fernandes (Bentancur 65), Gray, Tonali, Kudus (Williams-Barnett 83), Tel (Solanke 43), Marmoush (Kulusevski 65). Substitutes (not used): Gunter, Senesi, Davies, Maddison.
Match data
Goal: Leeds - Okafor 79.
Yellow cards: Leeds - Longstaff 21, Okafor 80; Spurs - van de Ven 14, Pedro Porro 51, Tonali 88.
Referee: John Brooks.
Venue: Elland Road.
Weather: Cloudy but dry, nine degrees.
Attendance: 36,921.