Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Leeds United (Tel 50′ | Calvert Lewin 74’ pen)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Antonín Kinsky may well have stopped Tottenham Hotspur from facing Lincoln City next season.
Albeit that sentence would have more commitment if it were not for Mathys Tel foolishly kicking Ethan Ampadu in the head, undoing his earlier wondergoal.
Tel controlled a cleared corner on the edge of the penalty area and beautifully threaded his right-footed attempt into the top corner, leaving Karl Darlow helpless as Spurs took the lead. An effortlessly outstanding finish.
Yet just 25 minutes later, after scoring his first goal since January 4, the French attacker attempted to clear Richarlison’s miscued lobbed intervention from a Leeds United free-kick with an overhead kick without checking his surroundings.
Ampadu flew into the penalty area to contest the ball, and Tel’s ridiculously high foot was enough to send referee Jarred Gillett to the monitor to award a penalty.
It was a fatuous decision by Tel. He had no grasp of what was going on around him, no idea that Ampadu was charging into the penalty area.
In a way, Tel’s consequential 25 minutes epitomise his first full season in a Tottenham shirt: glimpses of quality coupled with avoidable errors. Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi vowed to console Tel with a “big hug and a big kiss” after the 21-year-old’s mistake – which he attributed to inexperience – allowed Leeds back into the game.
De Zerbi refused to say much more about the incident. But Tel was impetuous and cost Spurs two vital points in their hunt for survival, offering West Ham United another chance to climb out of the relegation zone and squandering the opportunity to put daylight between themselves and the bottom three.
Tel went from hero to zero (Photo: Reuters)The value of the point will not be known until the very end of the season – especially with West Ham still to play Leeds –but with Spurs having tougher fixtures, it appears a missed opportunity.
Although it could have been bleaker if it were not for the unlikely hero Kinsky. Two months on from his catastrophic display against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, the 23-year-old produced one of the saves of the season in stoppage time to ensure Spurs walked away with a point.
Leeds crafted an expansive attack down the right with James Justin finding Sean Longstaff’s well-timed run into the penalty area. Longstaff whacked a left-footed shot goalbound, attempting to smash into the top corner. But an instinctive, rapid reflex save from Kinsky saw him tip it onto the bar and maintain the point. It could prove to be the most definitive moment in Spurs’ season.
Having started all five of De Zerbi’s games in charge since he took the reins in March, Kinsky has admirably put his nightmare in Madrid behind him.
Subbed after two mistakes midway through the first half in Spain, it was a moment capable of destroying the young goalkeeper. Thrust into the global headlines, humiliated and dubbed ‘Slipsky’, it seemed a long way back.
However, he has shown incredible resolve and fortitude to come back and make a material impact on Spurs’ quest for survival. Kinsky had just three saves to make against Leeds, two of which were of the highest quality.
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Kat Lucas: Tottenham’s modern-day Klinsmann has salvaged their season Michael Hincks: West Ham have one man to blame for this mess – and it’s not the VARThe final save made the first, which he had to claw from behind him, seem easy. It was far from it as he denied Joe Rodon from a short corner routine.
This was a reminder of Kinsky’s potential, and Spurs will be grateful for the timing. Tel, too. Otherwise, Spurs would have slipped to defeat, with the blame pinned on the young Frenchman, making the wait for West Ham’s game on Sunday feel far gloomier.
Spurs could still end up in the relegation zone before they next kick a ball, with West Ham travelling to Newcastle United on Sunday. But the onus is on the Irons to win, otherwise De Zerbi’s side could retain their Premier League status against bitter rivals Chelsea on Tuesday after this weekend’s FA Cup final.
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