Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published Tuesday, 12 May 2026, 00:25 / Updated Tuesday, 12 May 2026 00:28
With Radu Drăgușin an unused substitute, Tottenham Hotspur failed to beat Leeds United at home in the 36th round of the Premier League, the game ending 1-1 after a VAR match, tension and a complicated ending for the Londoners.
With De Zerbi on the bench, Tottenham started to play a little better, stringing together two wins against Wolves and Aston Villa. Then, when they should have been close to saving themselves and taking advantage of West Ham's two consecutive defeats, Spurs managed just one point. Leeds managed to equalize and get a point which gave Tottenham anxiety ahead of the last two legs.
Tel opened the scoring and committed a penalty for the opponents
Tottenham started the better and opened the scoring in the 50th minute. After a corner was cleared by the Leeds defence, the ball found its way to Tel, who fired wide from the edge of the box to open the scoring.
It was his first goal since January 7, when he scored against Bournemouth, and he has not registered a goal or assist since. And just when he was thought to be the hero, he became a villain.
In the 70th minute, he executed a scissors kick and hit Ampadu in the head. The referee waited a long time for the decision of the VAR camera, had to go and review the phase, and then confirmed the penalty. Dominic Calvert-Lewin took charge and although Kinski tipped the corner, he had no chance against the Leeds striker's powerful shot which in the 74th minute made the final score 1-1.
The visitors, in the 13 minutes of second-half injury time, had two big chances, the best of which came when Longstaff hit the crossbar with Kinski's save, but Tottenham held on. Spurs called for a penalty in the 10th minute of extra time when Maddison went down, but referee Gillett did not award the penalty/
Tottenham thus remained, ahead of the last two legs, first above the first relegable place, with 38 points, and given that they have a much better goal difference (11 goals difference) than West Ham, who have 36 points, it will be enough to get a win and a draw against Chelsea and Everton, all if the Hammers win both games, and they play against Newcastle and Leeds.
Premier League standings
