3-0 v Leeds United - 2 January 2021 - Home

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

Spurs 3

Leeds United

Leeds United

0

Details
Match Number

7452

Opposition
Leeds united

Leeds United

Competition
Premier League

Premier League

Season

2020/21

Date

2nd January 2021

Kick Off

12:30

Venue

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Attendance

0

Referee

David Coote

VAR

Paul Tierney

League Position

4th

Opposition League Position

12th

Opposition Form

WLLLWW

Weather at Kick Off

3.1° - Partly Cloudy

Facts & Milestones
  • 7416th overall match (3552 wins, 1624 draws, 2227 losses)

  • 5814th competitive match (2634 wins, 1356 draws, 1824 losses)

  • team

    98th match vs Leeds United (37 wins, 29 draws, 32 losses)

  • competition

    1092nd Premier League match (470 wins, 273 draws, 349 losses)

  • 6765th match in England (3195 wins, 1511 draws, 2046 losses)

  • 51st match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (32 wins, 6 draws, 13 losses)

  • Heung-Min Son
    Heung-Min Son: 100th Goal
  • There were 2 changes to the starting lineup from the last match.

For STATS Against
19 Attempts 18
6 Attempts on Target 5
2.6 xG 1.1
37% Possession 63%
499 Touches 751
284 Passes Completed 526
379 Passes Attempted 640
74.9% Pass Completion 82.2%
8 Crosses 24
20 Throw-ins 20
3 Corners 5
15 Tackles 12
17 Blocks 9
11 Interceptions 14
5 Saves 4
15 Fouls 13
4 Yellow Cards 1
1 Red Cards 0
1 Second Yellow Cards 0
0 Offsides 1
Report

Son Heung-min scored his 100th goal for Tottenham as they returned to winning ways in the Premier League against Leeds.

Spurs' first league victory since 6 December lifts them to third in the table, with Leeds remaining 11th.

While Jose Mourinho's side merited their win, Leeds played a significant part in their own downfall.

Goalkeeper Illan Meslier's misplaced pass led to Harry Kane opening the scoring with a penalty after Ezgjan Alioski fouled Steven Bergwijn.

Kane then turned provider, with a curling cross from the right that was swept in by Son at the near post as the hosts doubled their advantage.

While Leeds streamed forward at every opportunity and carved out chances of their own, they often left themselves exposed in defence and were fortunate not to be more severely punished by Mourinho's side.

As it was, Toby Alderweireld's near-post header rounded off the scoring at the start of the second half, with Meslier again culpable as he fumbled the ball over the line.

It was a welcome outcome for Mourinho, who called the situation around Wednesday's postponed match against Fulham "unprofessional" and is also likely to have been unimpressed by three of his players breaching coronavirus rules by attending a party over Christmas.

The only negative of the day for Spurs was the stoppage-time dismissal of defender Matt Doherty for a second booking.

The problem for Spurs fans and Mourinho over recent weeks has been you are never quite sure exactly what to expect from this Tottenham team.

There is the side that is ruthless, relentless and showed clinical efficiency during victories over both Manchester clubs and their north London rivals Arsenal.

And there is the one that stuttered and at times retreated while conceding late goals that cost them points in fixtures with Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Wolves.

However, one constant is the deadly partnership of Kane and Son, who have now combined for 13 top-flight goals this term, to equal the record set by Blackburn's Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton in 1994-95.

The 'SAS' spearheaded Kenny Dalglish's side to the league title that term and Mourinho will surely privately have not dismissed that his side could yet find the momentum for a title tilt despite previously downplaying their chances.

Kane, who was a threat from the moment he flashed an early left-foot drive over the Leeds bar, has now scored against all 30 teams he has faced in the Premier League.

Son, whose energy and running provided the spark for many of Tottenham's attacks, emphasised his importance with a superb display that has now seen him contribute to 17 goals in his last 14 matches.

With Bergwijn failing to convert from three good opportunities and Ben Davies also blazing over when well-placed, their performance also underlined Tottenham's reliance on their star forward duo.

By the time Leeds fell behind in the 29th minute they had squandered several good opportunities to change the trajectory of the match.

And with each chance that came and went, head coach Marcelo Bielsa became visibly frustrated as he jumped from his haunches in the technical area.

Macedonian winger Alioski was the first to go close, driving a fourth-minute effort into the side-netting after the visitors had carved open the Spurs defence down the left.

Mateusz Klich then lifted a close-range shot over the bar under pressure and Patrick Bamford found himself unmarked six yards from goal but could only head Raphinha's right-wing delivery over the bar.

Bamford's intelligence and movement, coupled with quick passing from side to side, caused the hosts plenty of problems but ultimately not having a Kane or Son at their disposal proved the difference.

Bamford, the only player to register more shots (seven) than Kane, rarely troubled Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and in the end Leeds were made to pay for missed chances as well as their attempts to play out from the back.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, speaking to BBC Sport: "Very important [to win]. The run of results lately was not good. We didn't play against Fulham, of course.

"Look at the table and you have one match less and [you are] not happy with what you see. [With] this three points, you are now happier to look at the screen.

"Leeds are a team with very specific qualities. Easy to understand but difficult to play against. We tried not to give them what they want. Close the door where they have situations where they can hurt people."

Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Leeds United: Bielsa says his side made several errors against Leeds Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa, speaking to BBC Sport: "According to the display of both teams the result could have been a closer one. We had nine chances to score.

"And the chances they had and scored from, they came from errors. We already made these types of errors. We played the game on an even keel. Our forwards had the capacity to unbalance them and defenders had the capacity to neutralise.

"We were losing the ball when building up from the back and [there was] a goal from a set-piece.

"We need to demand more from ourselves. The start of the second half was a very important part of the game - we didn't go at it in a favourable manner."

Location
League Table
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Liverpool
16 9 6 1 37 20 17 33
2
Manchester united
16 10 3 3 33 24 9 33
3
Leicester city
16 9 2 5 29 20 9 29
4
Everton
16 9 2 5 26 20 6 29
5
Chelsea
16 7 5 4 31 18 13 26
6
Aston villa
15 8 2 5 29 16 13 26
7
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
15 7 5 3 26 15 11 26
8
Manchester city
14 7 5 2 21 12 9 26
9
Southampton
16 7 5 4 25 19 6 26
10
West ham united
17 7 5 5 24 21 3 26
11
Leeds united
16 7 2 7 30 30 0 23
12
Wolverhampton wanderers
16 6 3 7 15 21 -6 21
13
Arsenal
16 6 2 8 16 19 -3 20
14
Newcastle united
15 5 4 6 17 24 -7 19
15
Crystal palace
16 5 4 7 20 29 -9 19
16
Burnley
15 4 4 7 9 20 -11 16
17
Brighton hove albion
16 2 7 7 18 25 -7 13
18
Fulham
15 2 5 8 13 23 -10 11
19
West bromwich albion
16 1 5 10 11 35 -24 8
20
Sheffield united
16 0 2 14 8 27 -19 2
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Liverpool
16 9 6 1 37 20 17 33
2
Manchester united
16 10 3 3 33 24 9 33
3
Leicester city
17 10 2 5 31 21 10 32
4
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
16 8 5 3 29 15 14 29
5
Manchester city
15 8 5 2 24 13 11 29
6
Everton
16 9 2 5 26 20 6 29
7
Aston villa
15 8 2 5 29 16 13 26
8
Chelsea
17 7 5 5 32 21 11 26
9
Southampton
16 7 5 4 25 19 6 26
10
West ham united
17 7 5 5 24 21 3 26
11
Arsenal
17 7 2 8 20 19 1 23
12
Leeds united
17 7 2 8 30 33 -3 23
13
Wolverhampton wanderers
17 6 4 7 18 24 -6 22
14
Crystal palace
17 6 4 7 22 29 -7 22
15
Newcastle united
16 5 4 7 18 26 -8 19
16
Burnley
15 4 4 7 9 20 -11 16
17
Brighton hove albion
17 2 8 7 21 28 -7 14
18
Fulham
15 2 5 8 13 23 -10 11
19
West bromwich albion
17 1 5 11 11 39 -28 8
20
Sheffield united
17 0 2 15 8 29 -21 2
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