Premier League

LEEDS UNITED 1 (Okafor 34)
TOTTENHAM 2 (Tel 23, Kudus 57)

MOHAMMED Kudus starred as Tottenham edged past Leeds United with a resilient display in the rain at Elland Road this afternoon (Saturday).

It’s a tough ground to visit. Leeds hadn’t lost at home in the league for over a year, since Burnley’s 1-0 victory in September 2024, and Daniel Farke’s side began brightly here.

The hosts were unlucky not to take an early lead when former Spurs defender Joe Rodon struck the post with a close-range header inside seven minutes.

Gradually, though, Tottenham settled and began to show their quality. Midway through the first half, Kudus threaded Mathys Tel into a good position down the righthand side. The France U21 international, still searching for his first goal of the season, opened up his body and unleashed a strike that deflected past Karl Darlow.

After the match, Tottenham boss Thomas Frank praised Tel, saying: “I’m so happy for him. The character he’s shown as such a young man has impressed me from day one.”

Tel’s opener injected life into the contest. Within minutes, both sides spurned good chances, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin firing over for Leeds, while Kudus then squandered a good opportunity for the visitors.

Leeds then found a way back. Guglielmo Vicario parried Brenden Aaronson’s effort to new signing Noah Okafor, and the striker tapped in the rebound to level before the break.

The second half picked up where the first had left off, with both sides carving out chances. And on 57 minutes Kudus finally got his first Tottenham goal. Pedro Porro’s ball over the top was misjudged by Gabriel Gudmundsson, allowing Kudus to pounce, cut inside, and fire a shot into the back of the net, wrong-footing the keeper.

Protecting their narrow lead, Spurs showed a maturity often missing in previous seasons. Frank tightened things further in the 84th minute, shifting to a 5-3-2 as Kevin Danso replaced Wilson Odobert, who had produced one of his better performances in a Tottenham shirt.

In stoppage-time, Vicario produced a strong save to deny Joel Piroe, ensuring all three points returned to north London.

It was the type of hard-fought victory Tottenham might have let slip under past managers. Against a physical Leeds side in a hostile atmosphere, they twice found a way to go ahead and held firm when it mattered.

Following the disappointment of Wednesday’s defeat to Bodo/Glimt, Frank hailed his team’s “resilience” – a word that could have also been used to sum up their display in West Yorkshire. “If you want to build any successful team, you need mentality and character and cohesion and togetherness,” insisted Frank. “You need that willingness to do everything to win. I think we are building that more and more in this team.”

Tottenham’s tally of 14 points from their opening seven matches leaves them second in the Premier League, though several teams below them still have a game in hand. The win also marked Spurs’ first victory directly before an international break since October 2023, breaking a frustrating curse.

Leeds United: Darlow, Bogle (Justin, 89), Rodon, Strujik, Gudmundsson (Nmecha, 79), Ampadu, Longstaff, Stach (Tanaka. 66), Aaronson (Harrison, 67), Okafor (Piroe, 79), Calvert-Lewin
Substitues not used: Meslier, Bijol, Bornaw, Justin, Gruev

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Palhinha, Bentancur, Odobert, Simons (Richarlison, 74), Kudus (Johnson, 90), Tel (Sarr, 73)
Substitues not used: Kinsky, Gray. Bergvall, Spence, Davies