"Son Heung-min is the real replacement for me" Tottenham vs. Qudus Leeds, 1 goal, 1 assist 'One-man show'Jump to 2-1 win → 3rd place
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Is the team that ranked 17th last season really right. Tottenham Hotspur, which changed its coach 'Son Heung-min's former team' Tottenham Hotspur took a 180-degree different step to take the lead in the early stages.
Tottenham won 2-1 against Leeds United in the seventh round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2025-2026 season at Allen Road in Leeds on the 4th (Korea time) thanks to Mohamed Kudus' one-man show with one goal and one assist.
Tottenham, which suffered its first loss of the season in the third round against Burnley (0-1 loss), then went undefeated in four consecutive league games and jumped to third place with four wins, two draws and one loss and 14 points. It is one point behind defending champion Liverpool (15 points), who played one less game, and one goal behind second-place Arsenal.
Leeds suffered their first home defeat since September 2024 with the loss.
Tottenham, which built its second line of attack with Qudus, Xavi Simmons and Wilson O'Donver at the top of Matisse Tel, had a shaky start in the 10th minute of the first half, allowing Joe Rodon a header that hit the net.
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Tottenham, who did not have enough resources to give creativity to the attack side due to the simultaneous injury departures of James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, seemed to have difficulty attacking.
However, he changed the atmosphere of the game with just one shot. In the 23rd minute of the first half, Tel, who received a penetrating pass from Kudus, scored the first goal with a right-footed shot that stabbed into the corner from 20 yards.
French striker Tel, who has transferred to Tottenham this season after loaning last season, met Tottenham manager Thomas Frank's expectations by scoring a season-long goal in five games.
Cudus, who moved from West Ham, rose to No. 1 overall with his fourth assist of the season. Kudus also had the most contests (19 times) and wins (10 times) in both teams, and succeeded in all six dribbles. This is the first 100% success rate since Tanguy Ndombele's six against Aston Villa in March 2021.
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Tottenham ended the first half 1-1 by allowing Noah Okafor to score an equalizer in the 34th minute. Okafor pushed the ball into the net after Brendan Aaronson's shot hit Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario's hand.
The main character of the second half was Kudus as well. In the 12th minute of the second half, Kudus snatched Gabriel Goodmundsson's ball from the right side of the opponent's camp and dug into the penalty arc before scoring the winning goal with a left-footed shot aimed at the bottom of the right side of the goal. Kudus also scored his first goal of the season on time.
Tottenham then secured a one-goal victory with Vicario's successive saves. In particular, it was crucial to hit Joel Pirro's shot in the third minute of extra time in the second half.
Tottenham and Leeds had expectations of 0.52 and 1.66, respectively, but the result was a 2-1 victory for Tottenham.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
