How much longer can Spurs just get by in games? Tottenham have barely held on again as they beat Leeds United 4-3 in a harrowing game that solidified their place in the Top-4 during the World Cup break.
Tottenham and Antonio Conte really do love giving their fans heart attacks week after week. Practically every game Spurs plays in is a tight, gritty, 1-2 goal affair that goes down to the wire, even when Spurs are the far superior team. In fact, the only game that Spurs won or lost by more than two goals was their 6-2 victory over Leicester on September 17th.
Yup, it’s been TWO MONTHS since Spurs have won a game (or lost a game) convincingly. No wonder Spurs fans are all crazy.
Anyway, this was a game they really should have lost…by more than one goal.
Sure, Spurs had the better of the stats as they controlled the possession (55-45%), had two more shots (14 vs. 12), and had a higher pass accuracy (82% vs. 78%), but the best chances of the game belonged to Leeds United.
Simply put, the Leeds United attack is LETHAL. Powered by Brenden Aaronson, Wilfried Gnonto, Rodrigo, and the ever-improving Crysencio Summerville, the Leeds attack was all over Spurs defense the entire game, forcing many mistakes out of veteran players like Eric Dier, Clement Lenglet, and Pierre Emilie-Hojbjerg.
Okay, forcing Dier and Lenglet into a mistake is like getting a dog to eat. It’s very easy.
Nevertheless, the pace and agility of these guys to get in behind defenses caused massive amounts of problems for Spurs, which directly lead to Summerville’s goal and Rodrigo’s second. Both came off the back of midfield turnovers as Leeds’ midfielders Tyler Adams and Marc Rosa were magnificent in breaking up counterattacks in their infancies and then whip in teasing through balls.
And, like I mentioned, Summerville and Rodrigo were eaisly able to beat Dier and Lenglet in behind and burry the ball in the back of the net, giving Leeds three separate 1-goal leads throughout the game. Summerville, in particular, was really impressive as he is quickly turning into the best attacker on this Leeds roster.
From scoring the winner against Bournemouth in his professional debut to now punishing Champion League-proven defenders, Summerville is becoming a star before our very eyes. I hope he continues to blossom under Jesse March’s leadership as he could easily become one of the brightest young stars in English Football before we know it.
Regardless, the real ownness is on March to stay on as Leeds head coach past this season as Leeds still ended up losing this game. For as good as they are offensively, they are just as poor defensively.
Aside from Harry Kane’s opening goal that should have been disallowed for goalie interference, there were far too many times Spurs were able to get in behind the Leeds backline. Even without Heung Min-Son and playing an extremely defensive gameplan (as Conte always does), Tottenham still had 14 shots on goal and forced Meslier to make four saves.
You don’t need me to tell you that if a team’s goalkeeper still makes four saves even though he has conceded as many goals, then said team’s defense did a horrfic job protecting their goal.
Though, I have to give credit to Spurs as they never gave up. After going behind on three occasions, Conte’s Spurs showed some of his winning mentality by keeping their heads in the game and continuing to wait and counterattack whenever a Leeds player would make a mistake.
It may not have been pretty (which is putting it mildly), but they got the job done in the end with Bentancur late go-ahead goal to win 4-3 and stay in the Top-4.
Whew, both Leeds and Tottenham are two of the most chaotic teams in the Premier League today…which made for a crazy matchup.
Hopefully, Leeds United survives for another year in the league as their style of play is a joy to watch.
Spurs, on the other hand, have an attrocious style of play, but it gets the job done. We’ll see if they can keep up their Top-4 aspirations come the other side of the World Cup break.
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