Leeds United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur: Premier League – as it happened

Ross Heppenstall was at Elland Road, and his report is in. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM.

Related: Mohammed Kudus keeps his cool as Tottenham show steel to hold off Leeds

Related: Thomas Frank says it was ‘about time’ Mohammed Kudus shone for Spurs

Daniel Farke talks to TNT Sports. “First impressions … disappointed … but if you put the result to the side … we were the better side today in all aspects … we dominated … gutted for them that we didn’t win anything … one or two mistakes we were punished … after one or two days the boys can be proud … deflected strikes … their goalkeeper was man of the match probably … football is sometimes like this … the lads should be proud of their performance … against such a good side … we can take many positives out of this game … a top performance and an unlucky result … if we deliver this performance I’m sure we will be fine in the end.”

Thomas Frank – who has won against Daniel Farke for the first time – speaks to TNT Sports. “Huge respect for Leeds and Elland Road and Daniel … they haven’t lost in more than a year at home … so we knew it would be difficult … our performance was good offensively … scored some good goals … good situations … kept Leeds at a minimum … until the 80th minute, when it was a little bit carnage and we needed a couple of saves from Vicario … the mentality and character is the major foundation if you want to achieve great things … there are so many difficult opponents … there will be so many setbacks in games … you need to relentlessly keep going … that’s the core of any great team … I’m so pleased for [Mathys Tel] … I’m so happy for [Mohammed Kudus] … it was Xavi Simons’ best game … more to come.”

Mathys Tel speaks to TNT. “It was a tough game for us, the opponents played very well … we deserved to win … we fought until the end … I worked this week a lot about finishing … so I’m very happy … I will keep going … we work together and win together … that’s what we showed today … we did it for the team and for the fans.”

Mohammed Kudus adds: “As an attacker it boosts your confidence to score … big credit to all the team … everyone put a lot of effort … I want to give Mathys big credit … big, big applause to him … I’m a big fan of how he comports himself … I’m happy he’s got his first goal and many more to come … we go to represent our countries and come back with top focus … there are a lot of games and points to fight for.”

Tel is then asked to give Kudus his player-of-the-match award … which he does, but only after pretending awhile to keep it for himself. When he does hand it over, the pair laugh heartily and give each other a big hug. A sweet and infectious moment that’s impossible to watch without smiling too. Tottenham are building a team here.

That was a fun match, and an impressive performance from Spurs. On TNT Sports, Lucy Ward named Mohammed Kudus as her man of the match, an assessment that’s more than fair, though Xavi Simons staked a claim for the award too. Thomas Frank has got Spurs moving in the right direction again, and this win takes them into second, for a couple of hours at least. Everyone celebrating despite all the rain. Meanwhile it’s more misery for Leeds against Spurs, and they taste defeat in the league at home for the first time in over a year. But they put in a good shift too, and look well equipped to stay in the Premier League.

Pos Team P GD Pts 1 Liverpool 6 5 15 2 Tottenham Hotspur 7 8 14 3 AFC Bournemouth 7 3 14 4 Arsenal 6 9 13 5 Crystal Palace 6 5 12

90 min +6: Replays show Richarlison treading on Struijk’s foot before the defender fell over. But neither VAR nor referee show any interest in revisiting the incident. You’ve seen them given, but it would have been very soft, and Struijk was on the way down anyway.

90 min +5: … and Struijk goes over, claiming a penalty. But he’s not getting one. Everyone on the Leeds bench up in arms.

90 min +4: … so having said that, Calvert-Lewin wins a header on the edge of the box. It drops to Piroe, who whips a first-time shot towards the bottom right. Vicario turns it around the post. Great play all round, and a big corner coming up. It’s sent into the mixer and Struijk can’t get a header on target from six yards. But it took a flick off Udogie, so another’s about to come in from the left …

90 min +2: Struijk competes for a header in the Leeds box but Danso is in his way, and not giving an inch. Leeds not creating very much and time is running out.

90 min +1: Ampadu flings in a long throw from the right. After some more head tennis, the ball drops to Longstaff, who demonstrates how the stuff Matthew Le Tissier used to make look so easy isn’t that easy. His languid volley disappears into the stand.

90 min: Some head tennis in the Spurs box. Calvert-Lewin wins a header on the edge of the six-yard box, but he’s all over Danso and the whistle goes. Then Kudus is replaced by Johnson. There will be six additional minutes.

89 min: Justin comes on for Bogle.

88 min: … but before Porro takes the corner, he picks up something thrown at him by a fool. The officials aware. Then he hoicks the corner straight out of play.

87 min: Richarlison advances down the right. He scuffs a shot across the face of goal and out of play, but seems it took a nick off Ampadu, so it’ll be a corner for Spurs. Porro to take.

86 min: Harrison tries to find Nmecha with a curled pass down the left, but Vicario reads the danger and comes to the edge of his box to claim. But Leeds come again, Calvert-Lewin hooking around Van de Ven on the byline to keep the ball alive. However all his hard work is for nought, as Bogle turbo-blooters his cross behind the goal.

85 min: Leeds have gone to a back three, pushing more men forward in their desperate search for an equaliser. So Spurs make a defensive change, replacing Odobert with Danso.

83 min: There’s not a lot going on right now, which will suit Spurs just fine.

81 min: Leeds are up against it here, because TNT have just flashed up this stat: Spurs are the only team in the entire Premier League not to have conceded a goal in the last 15 minutes of any match so far this season.

79 min: Now it’s Leeds making a double change. Off go Gudmundsson and Okafor, on come Piroe and Nmecha.

78 min: Bogle strips Richarlison and strides towards the Spurs box. He’s got options either side, but decides to shoot instead. It’s ambitious, which is the best we can say for that.

77 min: Tanaka takes a couple of slick flicks to set Leeds off on the attack, down the inside-right channel. Calvert-Lewin nearly releases Harrison into the box but the latter can’t control. Tanaka has looked lively since coming on.

75 min: Calvert-Lewin comes clattering into Romero, knee up. Not sure whether he’s caught his opponent full in the fruitbowl, or just (!) the chest, but Romero felt that either way. No booking.

73 min: Tel goes down, but gets up quickly enough when he realises he’s being substituted anyway. Simons also departs, with Richarlison and Sarr coming on.

71 min: Tanaka glides in from the left and finds Longstaff in the middle of the park, 25 yards from goal. Longstaff takes up possession and swivels 180, rifling an instant shot inches wide of the bottom-left corner. Not sure Vicario was getting to that had it been on target. Close to a second Leeds equaliser.

69 min: … so having praised Simons, he carelessly ships possession to Harrison, who drives purposefully towards the Spurs box. He lays off to Bogle, who can’t decide whether to cross or shoot, and achieves neither.

67 min: Leeds make a double change, replacing Aaronson and Stach with Harrison and Tanaka.

66 min: Simons has been superb, showcasing his wily stylings from the get-go. He shovels a clever pass down the inside-right channel, releasing Porro into the box. Porro should do better than shanking a dismal effort into the side netting.

64 min: Romero and Okafor tangle horns over some garden-variety nonsense in midfield. A philosophical back-and-forth, nose to nose. It threatens to boil over, but their pals pull them apart. Both go into the book.

63 min: The rain continues to hammer down. For the record, Thomas Frank doesn’t have his hood up either. He’s a fair bit happier than his equally soaked counterpart, though.

61 min: Tottenham suddenly put their foot to the floor, and Elland Road fell a bit quiet as a result. The home crowd rally and find their voice again as Longstaff launches long into the Spurs box, but Rodon can’t keep his header down, the ball sailing harmlessly into the stand behind.

59 min: Spurs come so close to a third, Simons flicking Odobert into space down the left. Udogie fizzes a low drive through the six-yard box that somehow evades both Kudus and Tel.

58 min: Another Spurs goal that’s taken a small flick en route to its destination. This time off the sliding Struijk. To be honest, it was probably going in anyway.

57 min: … but Daniel Farke signally refuses to put up his hood. Steve McClaren has an awful lot to answer for.

56 min: It’s tipping down, by the way. Coming down in stair-rods.

55 min: Porro is thankfully back up, but he’s not happy and telling it as he sees it to anyone who will listen. He is fuming. Kudus takes the resulting free kick and wafts it harmlessly towards the bottom right, where Darlow claims without fuss.

53 min: Ampadu catches Porro late in a 50-50 challenge just outside the Leeds D. Porro felt that, and requires some treatment. Studs on shin. Yellow card, although VAR takes a while to clear the option of a red. There didn’t look to be any malice in it, but it was reckless, and Ampadu couldn’t have complained if he’d got his marching orders.

51 min: Incidentally, that Calvert-Lewin shot was deflected a little bit by Romero’s extended leg, taking the ball further away from Vicario. So that was some save. Let’s give the Spurs keeper, who has made his mistakes this afternoon, fair measure.

49 min: … and then Aaronson whistles a low cross through the six-yard box from the right, Calvert-Lewin inches away from poking home. Had either of those chances gone in, it’d have been nice to hear the trenchant exchange of views between Simons and Romero.

48 min: Tel sends Simons into acres of space down the right. Simons has the opportunity to release Romero, of all people, down the middle, but overeggs the pass, attempting to find his team-mate with a rabona, for goodness sake. Leeds go straight up the other end, Calvert-Lewin spinning and taking a shot towards the bottom right. Vicario sticks out a strong leg to deflect away from danger.

47 min: Porro crosses from the right. Darlow does well to palm the ball away from goal with several Spurs players closing in. “Leeds lack of an on-form striker might still be telling this season. But they’ll take scoring Vicariously today.” Justin Kavanagh the latest of you to channel Peter Oh in this MBM.

Leeds get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes. “When I saw the team sheet, I worried about having two of our front three operating with a shortage of confidence and a lack of final product,” begins Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo. “I am glad to see Tel on the score sheet. I hope it represents the start of something. I am old enough to remember the scepticism of Harry Kane when he was coming through, and we’ve seen how that turned out.”

More half-time entertainment. A schadenfreude special for Leeds fans.

Related: Time to be brave: the tactical tweaks Amorim needs to make at Manchester United | Daniel Harris

Half-time entertainment. “At Arsenal on Wednesday Daniel Podence, who is 5ft 4in, could be seen actively sprinting away from every set-piece like a guilty husband caught on kiss cam. At one point he leapt for a high ball and it was as if someone had thrown an action man at Ben White from a passing car.” Another day, another Barney Ronay classic. Enjoy, enjoy.

Related: Wirtz becomes latest footballer battling to best their objectively weird price tag | Barney Ronay

45 min +3: Other than that – a reasonably significant caveat, to be fair – this half is petering out.

45 min +1: The first of four additional minutes passes by … but not without significant incident, as Simons sends Udogie clear down the left with an insouciant flick of the boot. Udogie flip-crosses to Tel, who steers a header towards the top left but off the crossbar. Darlow beaten all ends up. Leeds clear their lines.

45 min: Some more from our man at the ground, Ross Heppenstall.

Spurs have threatened to tear Leeds apart at times with some of their incisive counter-attacking football, but the scores are deservedly level.

Tottenham have played the silkier football but there is an energy and a physicality about the hosts.

Fascinating contest in the West Yorkshire sunshine.

43 min: Incidentally, as Okafor’s shot was heading into the bottom left, a petrol-station-forecourt ball rolled onto the pitch and nearly clanked into the matchball. If Pepe Reina is watching this, he’s permitted one cold shudder down the spine.

41 min: Palhinha isn’t happy about that decision, and absurdly performs the dive mime. The referee does well to keep his counsel, and his cards in his pocket. Palhinha threatening to talk himself into a second yellow and a red card that would register 11 on our patented Ekitike-o-meter®.

40 min: Aaronson dribbles down the right and is unceremoniously flipped into the air by the sliding Palhinha, who goes into the book.

38 min: Okafor whips a cross in from the left. A couple of inches lower and Calvert-Lewin was surely planting a header into the net from six yards. But the ball sails over his head.

37 min: Spurs are suddenly skittish, and Aaronson is able to tee up Longstaff for a speculative shot from distance. The ball sails over the bar. Elland Road is bouncing.

35 min: Okafor, his tail up, makes good down the left but is shouldered to the floor by Udogie. No free kick, for some reason. Daniel Farke not happy.

33 min: Tel and Longstaff both require treatment for knocks. Tel goes off, as per regulations, but Longstaff is allowed to stay on and restart the game with a free kick. Thankfully for folk who tire easily of confected controversy, nothing comes of the set piece, but Leeds come again, and …

31 min: Kudus whips a vicious dipping cross in from the right flank. Odobert, coming in from the left, should slam home from a couple of yards, but clumsily skies it straight into the air, and off Bogle’s arm. Darlow claims. Odobert claims too, for a penalty, but come on and come off it. Bogle was right next to him and knew nowt about it. An egregious miss.

30 min: Calvert-Lewin has been whacked by Van de Ven and is currently walking around in the ginger style. He gives up on a long pass that offered hope. Perhaps he’ll run it off, but penny for the thoughts of any Everton fans.

28 min: Ampadu delaps another throw from the right. Bentancur heads clear. “Tel ya what, that was a beauty!” quips Mary Waltz. “Apologies to Peter Oh.”

27 min: Calvert-Lewin sashays in from the left and blazes over the bar. Big waste. Spurs go up the other end, Udogie in acres down the left. He squares for Kudus, who opens his body and slices wide left when he surely should have scored. Somewhere in a parallel universe, the latest score is 1-2.

25 min: That’s Tel’s first goal of the season, and an answer to a small coterie of critics. Tottenham now need just three more goals to become the first-ever away team to score four goals on three consecutive visits to Elland Road.

22 min: Kudus comes through the back of Stach’s standing leg. He goes into the book. It wasn’t overly aggressive, but it wasn’t a good challenge either. Orange would have been about right, but he couldn’t have complained too much if the referee flashed red.

21 min: Simons dribbles into the Leeds box from the left and goes over. He doesn’t claim a penalty, and that’s because he’s lost his balance all by himself. The crowd still give him what-for.

Related: Swearing, booing and spitting: is crowd behaviour out of control?

19 min: … but it’s a throw, and we’re living in Tony Pulis’s world now. Ampadu launches it long from the right, causing brief confusion in the Spurs defence. But nobody in white can get to the ball and the visitors eventually clear.

18 min: Leeds have been quiet for the last few minutes, but they spring to life again through Okafor and Gudmundsson down the left. A corner is won. It’s swung into the mixer by Longstaff and eyebrowed away from danger by Palhinha.

17 min: Simons finds Udogie in acres again down the left, but the full-back has gone too early and up goes the offside flag. Simons looking almost as sharp as Kudus.

16 min: Simons slips a cute ball down the left channel for Udogie, whose shot-cum-cross is parried clear by Darlow. Palhinha tries again from long range but that’s not happening. Spurs beginning to find their rhythm.

15 min: Kudus steals the ball from Stach and power-glides down the middle of the park. He slips the ball wide left to Odobert, who takes a touch in the hope of setting himself for a shot, but only succeeds in gifting the ball to Bogle, who clears. Kudus is so easy on the eye when he’s in this mood.

13 min: The pace drops for the first time.

11 min: Vicario nearly makes an awful hash of dealing with a simple long ball. Out of his area, he almost accidentally handles while attempting to chest down. He adjusts himself and shepherds the ball back to his box, where he finally deals with the situation. But it’s not been a stellar start for the Spurs keeper.

10 min: Spurs get their foot on the ball for the first time. Kudus with an elegant spin into space. Odobert crosses from the right. Simons cushions the ball back to Palhinha, who blooters a shot over the bar.

8 min: Early days of course, but Leeds have enjoyed 68 percent of possession so far.

7 min: Okafor skips past Kudus on the left touchline with ease and flair. He prepares to zip past Porro too, but the full-back is having none of it, and gets a shoulder in. Free kick. That could be a booking, too. Longstaff sends the set piece towards the far post. Vicario comes off his line and gets nowhere near the ball. Rodon meets the ball with a strong header, but crashes it off the post. With the keeper on walkabout, he probably should have scored. But that’s pretty darn close.

5 min: The corner comes in from the left and falls to Stach on the right-hand edge of the D. Stach volleys but slices horribly wide left. The ball pings off Ampadu’s head en route to the stand, but doesn’t go any nearer to the goal.

4 min: Longstaff and Stach both win 50-50 challenges in midfield to get Leeds on the front foot. Romero thinks Stach has handled the ball, but again the referee lets things flow. The first corner of the game is won.

3 min: A cracking atmosphere at Elland Road, by the way. Like that’s breaking news. One of the great old-school theatres.

2 min: Bogle sends a long pass down the right for Calvert-Lewin, who is skittled to the ground by Van de Ven. You’ve seen free kicks given for much less, but the referee waves play on and the ball sails out for a goal kick. It’s a contact sport, I guess.

Spurs get the ball rolling. No wind! No rain! Storm Amy can do one.

The teams are out! Noah Butterfield, 3, lost his sight while battling illness but gained a pal in Leeds captain Ethan Ampadu. The pair hold hands as they lead the players onto the pitch. Little Noah in a 1970s smiley hat, the star of the show. Leeds in white, Spurs in black. We’ll be off in a minute.

This from our man at the ground! The Guardian, comin’ atcha from all angles. You’re welcome.

Twenty minutes before kick-off and it is threatening to turn into a beautiful autumn day at sun-drenched Elland Road, writes our reporter Ross Heppenstall.

Archie Gray is on the bench for Spurs but there will be no match-up with his younger brother Harry, 16, who is a nursing a minor hip injury and doesn’t make the Leeds bench. Archie, 19, will hope to make it onto the pitch at some point today to face his boyhood club.

He spoke to the Guardian in December 2023 in his first-ever major interview about his career trajectory and hopes and dreams …

Related: Archie Gray: ‘My childhood dream was to win the Champions League with Leeds’

Daniel Farke talks to TNT. “This is why we were so desperate to be back in the Premier League … to have this type of game … a top side … we know we have to be at our very best today to have a chance to win points … performance-wise I am pleased we have been competitive … it is good not to have to rotate too much … I am pleased with my squad.”

Thomas Frank speaks to TNT Sports. “We try to find the balance between consistency and freshness in the team … Richarlison has done two 90 minutes in a row … hopefully [Mathys Tel] will have a good performance today … [Xavi Simons] has been solid with good glimpses … it is a month ago he has arrived … I am happy with what I have seen but there is more to come … all areas need adding layers … solidness and mentality at set pieces has been lifted … creating enough is the next bit … the most difficult thing in football … relationships … we will keep working on it … there has been energy in all of our games … very happy with that … I’m aware this is a difficult place to go … but we are ready.”

Leeds drew 2-2 with Bournemouth last weekend. In fact they very nearly beat them. A result that is maturing better than fine wine. Look!

Pos Team P GD Pts 1 Liverpool 6 5 15 2 AFC Bournemouth 7 3 14 3 Arsenal 6 9 13 4 Crystal Palace 6 5 12 5 Tottenham Hotspur 6 7 11

As a result, they’re unchanged. Spurs by contrast have made three changes to their starting XI from the 1-1 draw with Wolves last weekend. Mathys Tel, Pedro Porro and Wilson Odobert come in for Richarlison, Lucas Bergvall and Djed Spence, all of whom drop to the bench.

Related: Eli Kroupi’s late volley for Bournemouth makes Farke rue Leeds’ missed chances