Jan Paul van Hecke and Antonin Kinsky came out of Elland Road with their reputations intact. Almost nobody else in white did, as Tottenham’s three-game winning run ended with a 1-0 defeat to Leeds.
Noah Okafor scored the only goal in the 79th minute, two minutes after coming off the bench. Spurs had the better of a first half that turned on Jayden Bogle’s challenge on Mathys Tel, then lost almost every duel after the break.
Roberto De Zerbi said afterwards that he “didn’t see the same Micky van de Ven, the same Sandro Tonali, the same Kudus”. Here is how we rated every Tottenham player.
Tottenham player ratings vs Leeds: the defence
Antonin Kinsky: 7
Kept Spurs in it for as long as anyone could. His fingertip save from Sean Longstaff, who had brought a cross down brilliantly on his 200th Premier League appearance, was the best stop of the game, and he had no chance with Okafor’s finish. Dealt calmly with a lot of crosses.
Pedro Porro: 5
Was beaten too easily early on as Leeds came flying out of the blocks, and his booking early in the second half, which De Zerbi called “incredible”, left him on thin ice. Off on 65 minutes for Conor Gallagher.
Micky van de Ven: 5
The captain was booked in the first half for hauling back Bogle and had an uncomfortable afternoon. He did produce one important clearance after the break, but he also turned a cross over his own bar, and his manager singled him out as below his usual level.
Jan Paul van Hecke: 7
Our best outfield player. Strong in the air, composed on the ball and the main reason Dominic Calvert-Lewin had so little to feed on before the break. He nearly rescued a point in stoppage time, only for James Trafford to tip his header round the post.
Andy Robertson: 6
Energetic and willing as always, and involved with Archie Gray in one of Spurs’ better first-half moves. He gave the ball away too often, though, and couldn’t stop the tide after the break.
Midfield: where the game was lost
Archie Gray: 6
Some neat touches against his old club and a hand in the move that set up Omar Marmoush in the first half. Moved back to right-back when Porro came off. Quiet, but not one of the problems.
Sandro Tonali: 5
Never got hold of the game. This was the kind of scrappy, physical afternoon where Spurs needed their midfield leader to take control, and he didn’t. De Zerbi named him among the senior players who fell short.
Mateus Fernandes: 5
A nervy start, with an early handball check after the ball struck the very top of his arm, which VAR said was in the green zone. Had little influence after that and went off on 65 minutes for Rodrigo Bentancur.
Attack: chances early, nothing late
Mohammed Kudus: 6
Spurs’ most dangerous player in the first half. Trafford had to deal with a testing drive, and his low cross flashed across the face of goal without a touch. Faded badly, and De Zerbi admitted he was too tired by the time he made way on 83 minutes.
Omar Marmoush: 5
Forced a save just after 20 minutes with a shot that deflected towards the bottom corner, but wasted the best of the first-half openings with a tame effort when a pass to Kudus was on. Lost his physical battle with Nico Elvedi. Off on 65 minutes.
Mathys Tel: 6
Was doing well before Bogle stood on the back of his ankle. Tried to play on, but went off for Dominic Solanke two minutes before the break. De Zerbi called it a bad injury, and the medical check will tell Spurs more. We covered the challenge and the VAR call in our Leeds 1-0 Tottenham match report.
How did the Spurs substitutes do?
Dominic Solanke (on 43): 5
Barely had a sniff of service up front, though he did make an important block close to his own goal.
Rodrigo Bentancur (on 65): 5
Came on to steady things and couldn’t. Okafor got the better of him for the goal, and he was flagged offside when Spurs finally found a stoppage-time opening.
Dejan Kulusevski (on 65): 5
Fine on the ball, but didn’t change the pattern of the game.
Conor Gallagher (on 65): 6
Spurs’ one real second-half effort before the goal came from him, a drive from outside the box that went narrowly wide.
Luca Williams-Barnett (on 83): 6
Created a chance with almost his first touch and gave Leeds something different to think about. De Zerbi picked him ahead of James Maddison because of his speed one-on-one, and we explain the rest in our piece on what De Zerbi said after Leeds.
Tottenham ratings vs Leeds at a glance
| Player | Rating |
|---|---|
| Antonin Kinsky | 7 |
| Pedro Porro | 5 |
| Micky van de Ven | 5 |
| Jan Paul van Hecke | 7 |
| Andy Robertson | 6 |
| Archie Gray | 6 |
| Sandro Tonali | 5 |
| Mateus Fernandes | 5 |
| Mohammed Kudus | 6 |
| Omar Marmoush | 5 |
| Mathys Tel | 6 |
| Dominic Solanke (sub) | 5 |
| Rodrigo Bentancur (sub) | 5 |
| Dejan Kulusevski (sub) | 5 |
| Conor Gallagher (sub) | 6 |
| Luca Williams-Barnett (sub) | 6 |
James Maddison, Ben Davies, Marcos Senesi and Luca Gunter were unused substitutes.
Verdict: Van Hecke can’t do it on his own
Two sevens and a lot of fives tells the story. The back line held out for 79 minutes largely because of Van Hecke and Kinsky, but the midfield lost the battle, and once Tel went off Spurs had nobody to carry the ball up the pitch.
The Leeds goal came from a throw-in routine that pulled Spurs apart, and that sums up the second half: they were second to everything. Two weeks off should help Maddison get fully fit, and on this evidence De Zerbi needs him.
