Tottenham 1-1 Leeds United: Why stop now? — Square Ball 12/5/26
Bag of cans?
Written by: Rob Conlon
Ethan Ampadu had every right to lead his team out of the
tunnel at Tottenham with each player swigging the last remnants from a bag of
cans. This season has been all about Leeds United staying in the Premier League
and with three games to go they’d done it. It has been a three-season slog to
get to this point and not once have Leeds been allowed to relent. At last,
they’ve been blessed with three weeks to put their feet up and relax. No
pressure. Nothing to play for. Get on the beach, lads. You’ve earned it.
But that’s not this team’s style. Why stop now when there
are still a few more noses there to be bloodied? For weeks everyone in Leeds
has been reading and listening to fans and pundits insisting this was a nailed
on win for a Spurs team that has won two league games at home all season, and
none since December. Enter Leeds United in our most devilish of end of season
moods: we’re only here to spoil yer party.
Dovetailing with Daniel Farke, Ampadu is the driving force
of that spirit. In The Athletic’s piece on Leeds’ survival this season, Beren
Cross described Ampadu as ‘pivotal’ in keeping the squad united and upbeat
during difficult moments earlier in the season while maintaining standards on
and off the pitch. As one source put it, “The voices there are strong, their
characters are strong, and if something’s not right, they will say it. But
equally, if someone needs help, there are people around.”
Ampadu is as harsh on his own standards as he is his
teammates’ — ‘his own biggest critic’ — and if he needs support himself then he
inevitably leans on Joe Rodon. In that case, do I really need to tell you who
were two of Leeds’ best performers at Tottenham? Both left the pitch with bangs
to their heads — although in Rodon’s case that was nothing unusual — and big
smiles on their faces, satisfied by another hard day’s night working like dogs,
ruining everyone else’s fun, and getting the best out of themselves and those
around them.
The welt on Ampadu’s forehead showed that it wasn’t pretty
and Leeds had needed to dig in. Facing a somewhat makeshift United team
creaking with knocks and fitness issues, Spurs had the better of the first
half, taking advantage of Dan James’ uncertainty as a right wing-back, but were
unable to find the goal that would have settled themselves and the crowd down.
With Leeds unable to stop Tottenham crossing, Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao
Palhinha missed chances from balls into the box, while another corner ended
with Pascal Struijk clearing Pedro Porro’s goalbound shot a few yards from the
line. Within the opening ten minutes, Richarlison was gifted a one on one with
Karl Darlow as Leeds’ defence disappeared, only for Rodon to superbly recover
and get back in time to block the shot, relishing the opportunity to impress at
his former club and prove they were wrong to write him off.
As much as Spurs dominated possession, the vulnerability
that has left them so desperate was never far from the surface. Roberto De
Zerbi was losing his mind on the touchline and needed telling to wind his neck
in by officials after less than a quarter of an hour. Pressured back to his own
byline by James, Mathys Tel decided the safest option was to cross the ball
into his own penalty area and almost onto the head of James Justin, like he’d
accidentally pressed the wrong button on FIFA. Rodon had a header well saved at
the back post by Antonin Kinsky centimetres before the ball crossed the line,
and as the half wore on Leeds were starting to look more threatening on the
break, driven forward in one instance by — you guessed it — Ampadu,
intercepting a dangerous pass on the edge of his own penalty area before
marauding forward past two Spurs midfielders. Just before the break, Dominic
Calvert-Lewin was brought down in the box after a slick counter-attack, only
for VAR to show his toe was offside.
Indeed, as the game as a whole wore on, I couldn’t help but
join the Leeds players in banishing the thought of lazing on the beach from my
brain. The more I saw Richarlison, Porro and Palhinha whining over every
decision the less I could stomach losing to a club with such delusions of
grandeur. Part of the Super League Six, please can we just send them to Lincoln
next year. It’s what the world wants and needs — particularly Tottenham’s
fanbase, who would benefit from a healthy dose of perspective. Who knows, they
might even win the odd game.
That sensation only made Tel’s exquisite opener, curling the
ball into the far corner from the edge of the box shortly after half-time, more
annoying. The goal was soon followed by a half-fit Pascal Struijk being
replaced by Sebastiaan Bornauw. Almost immediately after entering the pitch,
Bornauw had the ball chipped over his head by Randal Kolo Muani, whose low
cross reached Richarlison on the edge of the six-yard box, only for the
‘striker’ to balloon his ‘shot’ into the air.
Farke wasn’t going to let Spurs off the hook so easily. On
came Lukas Nmecha for Brenden Aaronson, providing a more physical presence, and
Wilf Gnonto for Dan James. While James had offered a Junior Firpo approach to
the wing-back role, occasionally popping up high on the left flank and leaving
Rodon flailing his arms in the air wondering where he’d gone, Gnonto’s ability
to drop deeper into pockets of space and keep the ball moving helped propel
Leeds forward up the pitch.
Five minutes after the changes, a typically unorthodox run
from the human trampoline Nmecha dragged Leeds upfield. He lost it in a tackle,
but Ao Tanaka and Justin followed up to keep the pressure on as some patient
passing between Gnonto, Rodon, Stach and Ampadu won a throw-in on the right.
Ampadu launched it into the area, then chased after the second ball as Spurs
failed to clear, Tel brainlessly attempting an overhead kick that only caught
Ampadu’s forehead. Jarred Gillett inexplicably allowed play to continue until
Spurs were attacking at the other end of the pitch before halting the game for
a head injury, summing up a night in which he managed to upset absolutely
everyone.
An unnecessarily lengthy VAR check let those at home watch
the same replay after the same replay of Ampadu getting kicked in the head,
before sending Gillett to the pitchside monitor to do the same. Referees have
already been conditioned to abdicate their responsibility whenever it comes to
a contentious decision, and the high stakes of title races and relegation
battles have now created an environment where those in the comfort of Stockley
Park don’t want to put their necks on the line either. Finally common sense
prevailed and a penalty was awarded, Calvert-Lewin paying little attention to
Richarlison making a nuisance of himself before slapping it perfectly into the
side netting and celebrating by shushing the crowd while Gnonto gazed at him
admiringly, as if hoping one day he might grow up to be like DCL.
Spurs retreated into their shell as Leeds grew into their
role as party poopers. Even as thirteen minutes of added time were awarded,
United came closest to nicking a winner as some lovely football on the left
ended with Justin slipping sub Sean Longstaff in on goal, Kinsky’s reflexes
pushing Longstaff’s hit from close range onto the bar and out. The midfielder
perhaps should have scored a minute later, Anton Stach’s corner flicked to the
back post by Jaka Bijol (who excelled as equally as Ampadu and Rodon), only for
Longstaff to shank his attempt parallel to the goal.
Thirteen additional minutes were stretched to over fifteen
after the returning James Maddison went down looking for a penalty at the
death, leading to another VAR check that showed Nmecha getting a toe to the
ball. But the full-time whistle only consigned Tottenham to further agony while
Leeds received a heroes’ reception in front of the away end.
In his post-match interviews De Zerbi showed the strain of
six weeks in a relegation battle, playing the part of both Alex Ferguson and
Kevin Keegan in his own “I’d love it” meltdown, lamenting the fact Leeds didn’t
simply roll over in north London and demanding the Peacocks “play like this” on
the final day of the season at relegation rivals West Ham.
That’s Spurs’ problem, not ours. The Premier League is no
place for integrity, and Leeds have earned the right to do whatever we like for
the rest of the season. At this point it seems unlikely Ethan Ampadu will ever
relent, but if he decides it’s time to share a bag of cans with his mates, I’ll
be right there with him.
