Leeds beat Spurs 1-0 at Elland Road on Saturday lunchtime. Substitute Noah Okafor scored 97 seconds after coming on, Harry Wilson set it up, and Leeds have their first league win since September. Spurs lost a three-game winning run, plus an argument about Jayden Bogle that lasted four minutes on VAR and will last a fortnight online. Six fan YouTubers watched it so you don't have to.
Noah Okafor: 97 seconds off the bench
JustJoeFootball opened the show in the mood of a man who has not had to defend his club all week for once. "United are back. United are back." Joe had spent the week hearing Daniel Farke get stick, and he would like the record corrected promptly. "He doesn't get enough credit when things are going wrong. So when he does do things right, make sure you praise him." By Joe's telling the goal ran Bard to Calvert-Lewin to Wilson to Okafor, and Joe's verdict on Melvin Bard was short: "Bard came on and well he changed the game."
LeedsLately took the calmer route to the same place. "I think we deserved it." Bard got the plaudits here too, along with a defence that, by LeedsLately's count, has conceded eight all season. "I feel more comfortable now than I have in years." From a Leeds fan, about a Leeds back line, that is practically a sonnet.
Daniel Farke: tactical masterclass, apparently
MatLeeds noted that Twitter wanted Farke sacked this week, then announced a "tactical masterclass". Farke started in a 3-5-2, changed shape at half-time and threw on Wilson and Okafor together. It worked within two minutes. Mat also took the minority view on the big call of the day: "it just isn't a red card." Bogle "should have been booked really", he conceded. A Leeds fan arguing for a yellow card against his own player is about as balanced as this hobby gets.
Jayden Bogle: the red that wasn't
The Spurs rooms did not share Mat's view. Bogle caught Mathys Tel on the Achilles, VAR spent four minutes looking, no card followed, and Tel went off injured before half-time. WeAreTottenhamTV put it plainly: "I think it is a red card to be honest." Then, to their credit, they moved on to the second half, which was worse. "It's like we just completely fell apart in that second half." And the summary nobody at Spurs wanted to say out loud: Leeds were "just a lot better than us".
Tottenham: the surgery is open again
FuadCadani delivered the line of the afternoon. Spurs, he explained, exist to help struggling sides back on their feet. "Dr. Tottenham will see you now." Fuad thought the Bogle tackle was a red, and refused to hide behind it. "I don't want to hang an entire result on one decision." His overall rating was not generous: "We were poor from minute one to minute 90."
ExpressionsOozing went at full volume, as is tradition, and asked the question for the whole of N17: "IS THIS PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL OR IS THIS A CAR BOOT SALE?" Once the officials had been dealt with, Expressions turned on Roberto De Zerbi's team selection and changes, and then on the scoreline itself. "IT COULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT 3-0." The only Spurs player to escape: Antonin Kinsky. "KINSKY KEPT US IN THE GAME."
Leeds and Spurs: two weeks to stew
The rooms agree on almost everything except the tackle. Leeds were better after the break, Farke's changes won it, and Spurs barely tested James Trafford until Jan Paul van Hecke's late header. De Zerbi admitted his side "didn't show the hunger" in the second half. Leeds go eighth, Spurs drop to tenth, and the international break means both get a fortnight with this result. In Leeds, that is a holiday. In north London, it is a long time to watch the Bogle replay.