Leeds ends winless run and stops Spurs' progress
Noah Okafor made an instant impact off the bench as his 79th-minute winner earned Leeds United a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur and to end Leeds's winless run in the Premier League.
Leeds had gone five Premier League games without a win ahead of this clash, and that appeared set to continue heading into the final international break of 2026.
But just 97 seconds after replacing Lukas Nmecha, Okafor skipped beyond Rodrigo Bentancur and finished past Antonin Kinsky to end Spurs' three-match winning run.
Backed by a raucous Elland Road crowd, the home supporters were out of their seats in the fourth minute when Mateus Fernandes's outstretched arm appeared to handle Gabriel Gudmundsson's cross, but the incident was checked and cleared by the video assistant referee (VAR).
Spurs weathered the early storm and tried to hit Leeds on the counter-attack, but tame efforts from Omar Marmoush and Mohammed Kudus were easily held by James Trafford.
However, the big moment of the first half came in the 34th minute when Jayden Bogle caught Mathys Tel high on the back of his ankle, but after a four-minute delay to review the challenge, VAR deemed there was no serious foul play because of a lack of speed in the challenge.
Bogle almost made the most of his reprieve moments later, crossing for Nmecha whose header was saved by Kinsky, with Tel then replaced by Dominic Solanke.
Leeds had its clearest sight of goal within five minutes of the restart, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin's header on goal was blocked before Nico Elvedi nodded wide.
Calvert-Lewin was involved again moments later, checking back and laying off the ball for Ao Tanaka, who blazed over Kinsky's crossbar, with Spurs coming close to halting Leeds's momentum at the other end, only to see Conor Gallagher's drive fizz past the post.
Kinsky then produced a stunning fingertip save to deny Sean Longstaff's instinctive attempt, but he was unable to earn a third top-flight clean sheet in a row when Okafor made his way into the box and finished into the bottom-left corner.
Roberto De Zerbi's side pushed for a leveller, but Jan Paul van Hecke's header was repelled by Trafford, before a loose touch at the back post was gobbled up by Bentancur as Leeds held on for the win.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke was pleased to be heading into the international break with a victory.
"There's no replacement for the winning feeling after a game in the dressing room," he said. "It's important for the mood and the confidence.
"The momentum can change quickly in most directions. We've played one of the most in-form sides.
"Of course, we've had a difficult spell in the last few games. It's good to have the winning feeling back. The boys were on it, very united. Credit to my boys."
