Tottenham 3-0 Leeds United: Kane, Son, Alderweireld lead Spurs to clean sheet win

Tottenham Hotspur are coming off of a run of four matches without a win, not including the postponed Fulham game, and hosted Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United in what was really considered a must-win match. And win they did! Harry Kane fired home from the spot to open the scoring after Steven Bergwijn earned a penalty. Kane then provided the assist for Son Heung-Min’s 100th Spurs goal in the first half. Toby Alderweireld added a third in the second half and Spurs rolled to a 3-0 win over The Damned United.™

Spurs rotated a bunch for this match. Matt Doherty was preferred at right back and Alderweireld came in for Davinson Sanchez in the back line. Harry Winks started in midfield alongside Pierre Hojbjerg, while Moussa Sissoko started on the bench. Steven Bergwijn also regained his starting position alongside Tanguy Nodombele and Son, behind Kane at the tip of the spear.

Key Moments

First Half

4’ — First chance of the match goes to Leeds. Alioski gets a half-step of space in Spurs’ box and blasts a ball at goal, but only gets side netting.

10’ — Alioski giving Spurs all sorts of trouble. This time he puts a ball in to Klich who is only able to loft the ball over the bar.

17’ — First shot of the match for Spurs and it’s from Harry Kane. Sonny tries to dribble into the box and a deflected ball falls to Kane, but he can only hammer it over the bar.

20’ — Good chance from Spurs, who managed to complete several passes in Leeds’ box! The end result is an open shot from Hojbjerg, which is saved by Meslier.

27’ — PENALTY TO SPURS! Alioski bundles over Bergwijn in the box and the official points to the spot! VAR has a look and ultimately upholds that the foul took place just inside the box.

28’ — GOAL TOTTENHAM! HARRY KANE CONVERTS THE PENALTY!

32’ — Nearly a second for Spurs. Toby has a shot blocked in the box, the rebound falls to an open Kane, but he shanks it wide.

37’ — Kane is down holding his knee and grimacing, which is not good! However, moments later he’s up and walking gingerly and will stay on, which is good!

41’ — Close from Leeds as Harrison fires just over the bar. Leeds have been picking apart Spurs’ CBs the entire half through Alioski and Bamford.

43’ — GOAL TOTTENHAM! Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min combine again! Kane picked out a Sonny run on a counter attack who one-touches it past Meslier at the near post. It’s Sonny’s 100th Premier League goal and Kane’s 11th assist of the season!

Halftime! Well, this is certainly going better than it has the past few league matches. Kane and Son score for Spurs and they take a (most dangerous) 2-0 lead into the second half.

Second Half

No changes at the break for either side.

50’ — Tanguy rips one off of a quick restart after a foul, and it stings Meslier’s palms, but he makes the save.

50’ — GOAL TOTTENHAM! It’s Toby Alderweireld! Off a Sonny corner, Toby gets a head to it at the near post and. Meslier makes the save, but his momentum carries the ball over the line and it’s 3-0!

61’ — Sub for Leeds as Jack Harrison makes way for Ian Poveda.

62’ — Bergwijn with a good shot from close range after a better run into space but it’s saved by Meslier. He’s had a few chances this match.

64’ — Yellow card for Doherty for a late challenge, the first card of the match. Another sub for Leeds as Rodrigo makes way for Pablo Hernandez.

66’ — Another shot for Kane saved. He’s been a monster going forward today.

73’ — Lol Harry Kane sees Meslier waaaaay off his line and tries to lob a ball over his head from the halfway line. It didn’t work but it scared the crap out of Leeds’ keeper!

75’ — First sub of the match for Spurs. Moussa Sissoko comes on for Harry Winks.

77’ — Another Spurs sub: Tanguy Ndombele off, Lucas Moura on.

86’ — Final sub for Spurs. Carlos Vinicius is on to see off the match, as Harry Kane has a seat.

92’ — Matt Doherty is off! He stands on the top of a Leeds players’ foot and sees his second yellow of the match. He’s off right at the death and will miss Spurs’ next match. Soft card, but that was a dumb play.

FULL TIME! Three goals, clean sheet, job done. Solid match for Spurs today against a dangerous Leeds United side.

Reactions

• Well, that’s much better! After multiple matches with uninspiring football and worse results, Tottenham seemed to return to the front-foot football they played earlier in the season. Three goals, a clean sheet, and some solid counter attacking football.
• Aliosky and Bamford gave Spurs’ back line all kinds of trouble in the first half and you might say Leeds were unfortunate not to score. This is a pretty good attacking Leeds team.
• Harry Kane is going to beat the Premier League assist record if he stays healthy. He now has 21 G+A in the league and we’re halfway through the season. Five shots and a penalty goal today. Good stuff.
• Curious that Spurs’ third goal was credited to Toby and not as an own goal after Meslier basically saved the ball and then carried it over the line. Whatever, I like it when Toby scores.
• Tanguy Ndombele was again very good playing at the 10. Bergwijn, too — he missed a few chances but got into some very dangerous positions. And I have to mention Ben Davies, who was again really solid. Are we having a Benaissance?
• Glad to see Vinicius make it on the field, but weird that Mou didn’t bring him on much earlier with the game well in hand.
• Not going to pile on Matt Doherty, as that was a pretty soft second yellow. Even so... man.
• Amazing what a good win will do for morale. Two cup matches up next. Onward!