TOTTENHAM have jumped up to third in the Premier League after beating Leeds 3-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Toby Alderweireld were on target as Jose Mourinho’s side overcame Marcelo Bielsa’s entertaining Leeds.
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THAT’S ALL FROM TOTTENHAM!
Tottenham picked up an important and comfortable 3-0 win over Leeds at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
This victory means Spurs have toppled Everton and Leicester to climb up to third place in the Premier League.
Harry Kane opened the scoring after 29 minutes with a penalty kick after Illan Meslier gave the ball away and Steven Bergwijn was brought down on the edge of the box by Ezgjan Alioski.
Son Heung-min then scored his 100th goal for Tottenham following a beautiful pass by Kane just two minutes before half-time.
Leeds dominated possession in the first half and hoped for a comeback in the second half but Spurs crushed their hopes with Toby Alderweireld’s header in the 50th minute.
Alderweireld headed Son’s cross and saw Meslier failing to hold on to the ball, which went over the goal line.
The north Londoners controlled the rest of the game but lost Matt Doherty to a second yellow card after he stepped on Ian Poveda’s foot in the second minute of extra time.
Thank you for following the action with us, have a lovely afternoon and a happy new year!
GETTY IMAGES – GETTY
MOURINHO ON COVID BREACH
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho criticised the actions of Erik Lamela, Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon after they were pictured breaking coronavirus guidelines by gathering with family for a Christmas party.
Mourinho said: “I gave him [Reguilon] an amazing gift. A Portuguese piglet which is amazing. I gave him because I was told he would be spending Christmas on his own. He was not alone as you can see.
“We as a club feel disappointed. We give the players all the education and it was a negative surprise for us.
“I prefer to say disappointed [than angry]. We know what we are internally.
“We don’t need to tell you the consequences, how we approached that negative surprise. I feel disappointed.”
MOURINHO ON KANE AND SON
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho believes Harry Kane and Son Heung-min have a special partnership.
Mourinho told BT Sport: “The understanding [between Kane and Son] is good.
“Against Leeds it was important to have mobility in attack because they mark man to man and if you stay in static positions you give them an easy job. When you have mobility it is more difficult for them.
“That movement of Kane appearing on the right side and Sonny in a finishing position, it fit well with our game plan. They are doing special things this season.”
MOURINHO REACTION
Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho is pleased with the performance but still believes his team can do better.
Mourinho told BT Sport: “The three points are very important. We understand well how they could hurt us and how we could hurt them.
“I still think we can and we have to do better.”
BIELSA REACTION
Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa believes his team did well throughout the first half and the second part of second half.
But Bielsa believes his team underperformed in the first part of second half.
He said: “The first 30 minutes were positive. The final 15 minutes of the first half were more even.
“In the first 15 minutes of the second half were our most difficult. In the second half of the second half we dominated again.
“We weren’t winning the second ball from set pieces and we conceded from one. We created 10 chances and didn’t score one.
“Our opponents created 12 and scored three. They were more efficient. Their goals came about through errors that we created.”
PREM TABLE
As mentioned below, Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Leeds means they have climbed up to third place.
Spurs toppled Everton and Leicester thank to their better goal difference, as all three of them have 29 points.
But reminding you all that Manchester City, who are currently eighth with 26 points, have two games in hand.
Nevertheless, the north Londoners will still rejoice for their return to the top four
RING THE BIEL
Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Leeds means Jose Mourinho remains undefeated against Marcelo Bielsa.
In fact, Mourinho has beaten Bielsa in all five games they have met throughout the years.
The Spurs manager prevailed four times over his counterpart in La Liga when he was in charge of Real Madrid and the Argentine was coaching Athletic Bilbao.
Fun fact, this was the first ever time Mourinho faced Leeds
GETY IMAGES – GETTY
OFFICIAL SON-TURION
As mentioned below, Son Heung-min made history as he scored his 100th goal for Tottenham.
Son joined Spurs from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 and quickly rose through the ranks mainly under former manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The star forward’s historic finish took place in the 43rd minute when he caught Leeds’ defence off guard.
The South Korea international picked up a beautiful pass by Harry Kane and tapped the ball behind the net
STATS
Leeds dominated 63.8 per cent of possession throughout the match and still conceded three goals.
But that was text-book Jose Mourinho as he likes his teams to sit deep, close spaces, wait for a mistake and produce counter-attacks.
Spurs produced 20 shots, seven of which were on target.
Leeds, on the other hand, produced 18 shots, five of which were on target.
But Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made more saves than Illan Meslier as he prevented danger five times compared to his Leeds counterpart who made four saves
FT: TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
Tottenham picked up a big win over Leeds, which helped them climb up to third place in the Premier League table.
The visitors started strong in the first half as they dominated possession and tempo but still conceded two goals.
Harry Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 29th minute after Illan Meslier gave the ball away and Steven Bergwijn was fouled by Ezgjan Alioski at the edge of the box.
Spurs doubled their lead just two minutes before half-time with Son Heung-min who caught Leeds’ defence off guard and picked up Kane’s through pass to finish off with a cool shot, which marked his 100th goal for the north Londoners.
Things got worse for Marcelo Bielsa’s men in the second half as Toby Alderweireld scored the third with a cool header, which Meslier couldn’t save and thus the ball went over the line after 50 minutes.
Tottenham dominated the rest of the game but lost Matt Doherty to a second yellow card after he stepped on Ian Poveda’s foot in the second minute of stoppage time
GETTY IMAGES – GETTY
PEEEEEEEEEEP
AND THAT’S FULL-TIME AT TOTTENHAM!!!!!!
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
90+2 RED CARD!!!!
Doherty gets his second yellow card for a rough challenge on Poveda.
The Tottenham defender stepped on the Leeds ace’s foot, Mourinho will not be happy with this!
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
90 Referee gives three minutes of stoppage time!
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
89 YELLOW
Phillips gets booked for a rough challenge on Vinicius, who was trying to get on the counter-attack.
That’s his fifth booking and will miss Leeds’ next match with Brighton
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
88 Dallas is limping out of the pitch after a hard tackle by Lucas.
Bielsa has ran out of substitutions so the Leeds ace decides to hobble on until full-time
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
87 SUBSTITUTION
And there goes Kane, who was arguably the man of the match.
He is replaced by Vinicius
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
84 YELLOW
Hojbjerg gets booked for bringing Hernandez down, probably a soft decision…
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
83 CHANCE
Raphinha delivers a cross to the unmarked Bamford who gets the header.
But it is yet another routine save for Lloris
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
82 CHANCE
Leeds are still trying to get on the scoresheet but Klich’s cross was too high for Raphinha and the ball goes out for a goal kick
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
81 CHANCE
Rphinha moves the ball beautifully from the left flank and fires a shot at Lloris.
One of the easiest saves in the Tottenham keeper’s career
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
80 And we got only 10 minutes left at Tottenham.
Spurs have sealed an important and impressive victory over a strong Leeds side.
The visitors let themselves down after dominating the first half but a poor challenge by Alioski, a defence that was off guard and Alderweireld’s early goal in the second half were their undoing.
They got enough time to get on the scoresheet though…
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
77 SUBSTITUTION
NDombele is withdrawn and Lucas Moura comes in for the last few minutes of the game
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
75 SUBSTITUTION
Tottenham make their first switch in the match.
Sissoko takes Winks’ place
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
74 CHANCE
Hernandez reclaims possession with a beautiful tackle and delivers another shot, which is deflected and goes out for a corner
TOTTENHAM 3-0 LEEDS
74 CHANCE
Hernandes fires a shot that finds a deflection and goes out for a corner
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
