An Intense First Half With Rapid Responses

Tottenham defeated Leeds United 2-1 to climb to second place in the Premier League, surpassing Bournemouth, led by Andoni Iraola.

The Spurs showed no signs of fatigue after their midweek European trip to Norway, where they drew against Bodo/Glimt, and secured a crucial away win against one of the newly promoted sides.

Head coach Thomas Frank rotated his squad heavily, keeping only four starters from their previous Champions League match, and the strategy paid off.

In the 23rd minute, Mathys Tel opened the scoring with a quick attacking move. The French forward fired from inside the box, the ball deflected off a defender, and wrong-footed the goalkeeper. Earlier, Tel had already come close with a powerful header that struck the crossbar.

Leeds United reacted swiftly. Just eight minutes later, Brenden Aaronson unleashed a shot that was deflected by a Tottenham defender, forcing a tricky save from goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. The Italian couldn’t clear properly, and Noah Okafor pounced to score his second goal of the Premier League season.

Defensive Mistakes and a Dramatic Finish

In the second half, Leeds United had a golden chance to take the lead, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed a one-on-one that could have changed the outcome.

The hosts paid for their lack of precision when Mohammed Kudus capitalized on two defensive errors to restore Tottenham’s lead. First, Gudmundsson failed to apply enough pressure on Pedro Porro’s pass, and then Patrick Struijk deflected Kudus’ shot just enough to wrong-foot his own goalkeeper, sealing the 2-1 result.

In stoppage time, Vicario made a crucial save to deny Joel Piroe, and Struijk nearly redeemed himself with a header that went inches wide on the final corner of the match.

Tottenham Tightens the Title Race

With this win, Tottenham reached 14 points and moved into second place, level with Bournemouth and just one point behind Liverpool, who will face Chelsea later in the day.

Meanwhile, Leeds United sit 12th with eight points after six matches—a solid return for a team that has just returned to the top flight.