Is that the end of the line now, Harry?
Defeat at dominant Leeds turns Kane’s head to big move...
IF Harry Kane was in any doubt about how far he is away from winning trophies or playing Champions League football with Tottenham, a comprehensive defeat in the pouring rain at Leeds should act as the final confirmation.
Interim manager Ryan Mason tried to build on last week’s win against Sheffield United by including all of Spurs’ big-hitters — Kane, Heung-min Son, Gareth Bale and Dele Alli — but it was the lesser names of Leeds who were hungrier and more adept, even if the visitors quibbled at a ruled-out Kane goal for offside at 1-1.
While Spurs were sluggish despite the incentive of European football, Marcelo Bielsa — 35 years Mason’s senior — clearly didn’t tell his mid-table Leeds side they had nothing left to play for.
They threw themselves at the visitors from the opening whistle and went ahead through Stuart Dallas. Even when Son equalised with Spurs’ first shot on target, Patrick Bamford restored the lead before half-time and substitute Rodrigo then sealed the win.
For Bamford, his first goal in six games was particularly sweet as he was able to celebrate in front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate. Kane’s mood was less gleeful. He had a frustrating day with a goal chalked off for offside and a free-kick that hit the crossbar.
But he is intelligent enough to know that Tottenham, as a cohesive unit, are not even at the level of Leeds, let alone Manchester City. Though they have three games left and could finish ahead of Leicester, Chelsea, West Ham and Liverpool, they are not realistically going to overhaul three of them to finish in the top four.
Indeed, they could be caught by Everton and, worryingly for chairman Daniel Levy there appeared a lack of fight from the international players representing one of the so-called Big Six.
Bale was hooked midway through the second half and still has not scored a Premier League goal away from home this season.
Hugo Lloris was Tottenham’s best player despite conceding three goals. His work started early on with a save from Bamford but he could not stop Leeds going ahead after 14 minutes.
Jack Harrison beat Serge Aurier to fizz in a low cross which Sergio Reguilon diverted in the wrong direction inside the six-yard box.
Lloris’ sharp reflexes saved his team-mate the embarrassment of an own goal but his parry fell to Dallas, who netted from close range.
Tottenham’s performance showed why Jose Mourinho was reluctant to put all his big-name forwards in the same line-up but they do have the individual quality that earned them an equaliser against the run of play after 25 minutes.
When Alli received the ball on the edge of the box, Kane made a dummy run to his left, allowing the England man to slot a pass to his right for Son. The South Korean had little trouble beating Illan Meslier for a goal against the run of play.
Leeds looked temporarily deflated but reacted positively. Harrison fired in a fierce shot, forcing Lloris to tip over the bar. They then made the most of a stroke of luck when Kane dinked Alli’s pass over Meslier but was ruled offside by the length of a big toe.
After 42 minutes, Leeds were ahead again. Left-back Ezgjan Alioski overlapped and his cutback allowed Bamford to beat a static Eric Dier for an easy finish.
Southgate would have noted that and some nice passes from Alli but Spurs could not mount pressure consistently. Mason took off Alli and Bale but the main contribution of one substitute, Lucas Moura, was to get booked for an arm in Alioski’s face while the other replacement, Erik Lamela, could not beat Meslier when fed by Kane. The England captain also struck the bar from a 25-yard set-piece.
In contrast, Bielsa’s changes combined for the killer third goal. Raphinha dashed down the left and played in Rodrigo, who hammered in his first goal of 2021.
Mason described the defeat as ‘disappointing’ and said it could have been different had Kane’s goal stood at 1-1. ‘I thought it was onside when I saw it on the touchline. I’ve seen it back since and my feeling hasn’t changed,’ he said.
‘If we’d gone 2-1 up, it is a different game. We had some big moments in the second half but needed to take one of them.’
Bielsa was delighted. ‘Considering the strength of the opponent, this was one of our best performances of the season,’ he said.
LEEDS (4-1-4-1): Meslier; Ayling, Struijk, Llorente, Alioski; Koch; Dallas, Roberts (Raphinha 58), Klich (Phillips 90), Harrison; Bamford (Rodrigo 80).
Subs (not used): Casilla, Poveda-Campo, Hernandez, Davis, Berardi, Shackleton.
Booked: Koch.
TOTTENHAM (4-3-3): Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Lo Celso (Ndombele 80), Hojbjerg, Alli (Lamela 67); Bale (Moura 67), Kane, Son.
Subs (not used): Hart, Doherty, Sanchez, Winks, Sissoko, Bergwijn. Booked: Reguilon, Moura.
Referee: Michael Oliver.