Leeds United vs Tottenham Hotspur. Premier League.
Elland RoadAttendance36,871.
Match report and free highlights as Harry Kane (twice), Pedro Porro and Lucas Moura strike in 4-1 win for Tottenham at Elland Road that relegates Leeds from the Premier League
Monday 29 May 2023 06:54, UK
Tottenham won 4-1 at Leeds in a result which saw the home side relegated from the Premier League but did not prove enough to earn Spurs a place in Europe.
Spurs got off to the perfect start when Harry Kane fired them into a second-minute lead, converting from 12 yards out after running on to Heung-min Son's square pass. The goal was the 350th of Kane's senior career.
Robin Koch and Rodrigo both headed wide the pick of Leeds' chances in the first half, and they were made to pay for it before some home fans had even returned to their seats after the interval.
Kane turned provider this time, flicking the ball over Liam Cooper before feeding Pedro Porro on the right, who shot low and hard and into the bottom left corner.
Leeds were offered a glimmer of hope when Jack Harrison reduced the deficit for Leeds in the 67th minute, firing a low angled shot into the far corner to make it 2-1.
But moments after scoring, Kane got his second of the game after combining again well with Porro on the counter and netting his 280th goal for Spurs.
And late substitute Lucas Moura, who leaves Tottenham at the end of his contract this summer, scored a wonderful solo goal to sign off from Spurs in fairytale style.
Leeds end the season 19th in the table. Aston Villa's victory over Brighton meant Spurs finished in eighth place, missing out on a place in next season's Europa Conference League.
Leeds went into the final day needing not only victory, but for relegation rivals Everton and Leicester to drop points and, since they both won, the Yorkshire club's 21st league defeat of the season was immaterial.
The ease with which Porro and Son combined to carve open the defence typified Leeds' season, with Kane finding space among headless chickens to hit the first nail into the home side's coffin.
Koch spurned their best chance of the half, heading wayward from in front of goal from Rodrigo's brilliant cross before Pascal Struijk's shot was deflected for a corner.
Tottenham continually threatened on the break without creating any more first-half scoring chances, but they soon remedied that.
Just as they had done in the first half, Leeds conceded inside the opening two minutes of the second as Kane brilliantly set up Porro, who arrowed a low shot into the far corner from a narrow angle to put the visitors 2-0 up.
Leeds gamely searched for a goal of their own and were rewarded when Harrison made space on the edge of the area to drill a low shot into the far corner.
But within two minutes Tottenham restored their two-goal advantage. Sanchez's simple long clearance caught Leeds' defence all at sea and Kane curled a neat finish inside the far post.
As Leeds fans vented their fury at their club's plight in the closing stages, Moura - on his last appearance for the north London club - completed the scoring after a mazy run from halfway before chants of 'Sack the board' rang out through the home terraces.
Leeds United statement issued shortly after relegation was confirmed:
"Everyone connected with Leeds United is deeply disappointed by the club's relegation back to the Sky Bet Championship, after three seasons in the Premier League.
"Relegation is painful, and we apologise to our fanbase that the performances this season have not seen the club consolidate our status as we had all hoped.
"However, Leeds United remains in a strong position to build a team that can challenge for promotion from the Championship next season.
"We know things have not been good enough, we know we have to improve, but please be assured that behind the scenes we have worked hard to ensure that the past will not be repeated. Our focus is now on how we get straight back to the Premier League.
"Thank you for your unwavering support for the players and the badge, our objective is to continue to build the club into the one you deserve."
Leeds manager Sam Allardyce:
"There are many things and factors that have to be put in place for a football club to reap long-term success. Most of it comes down to how good are the players. These players have tried very hard since I've been here and I can't fault their effort but as a squad, they haven't been good enough by the fact they're in the bottom three of the Premier League.
"I would have hoped I could have got a little bit more out of them. I take responsibility for that but it's a tough old world when things start failing and when confidence starts going it's very difficult to claw it back."
On his future at the club: "I'll have the discussion next week at some stage. There's lots of opportunity when we can sit down and get over the disappointment of getting relegated.
"The last thing I wanted to do was be the man who took Leeds down. We did all we possibly could try to get better results. I'm hugely grateful for the opportunity and the staff and we what we tried to do hasn't been good enough in terms of the results.
"I can tell the board what I think needs to be done and they can say what they think. Is the club going to go forward and who with because is it going to be bought, stay the same, what's going to happen? That's probably the first thing that needs to get sorted out before you speak to me.
"I can't really say I've enjoyed it. I'm glad I came back. I tried my best to get Leeds out of trouble. I can't enjoy anything when I don't win. The disappointment is huge. Getting in the training ground every day and trying to make the players look at the situation they're in and get out of it, if anything I've enjoyed trying to do that.
"We didn't leave a stone unturned. It's really sad that Leeds is in this position. To the fans, I apologise. I didn't do better and the players didn't do better, and try and win at least two out of the four games and give ourselves a bigger opportunity to stay in the Premier League."
Tottenham interim manager Ryan Mason:
"We scored some really good goals but also defended our box extremely well so overall really pleased with how it went. But obviously the bigger picture is disappointment with how the whole season has gone because we finished outside of Europe for the first time in a long time.
"We need to make sure that doesn't happen again."
"There are some huge decisions to make for the club. First of all, is to understand who we want to be and where we want to go, going forward. Then realising who fits that, members of staff and players as well. It's an important few weeks now and hopefully we make the right decisions."
On Harry Kane: "He probably doesn't get the appreciation that he should. The goals are outstanding, a 30-goal season in the Premier League is incredible. The overall performances are outstanding. To go through what happened at the World Cup from a mental point of view but to come back and do what he's done for the last five or six months speaks volumes for the player and person."
Sky Sports' David Richardson:
Leeds escaped on the final day of last season but this time relegation felt inevitable - a four-manager campaign often does that.
Jesse Marsch was celebrating this time last year, Marcelo Bielsa's successor dramatically keeping the club up after a 12-game rescue mission.
A £140m summer spending spree, reinvesting the £100m raised from the sales of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips, to bring in nine new players raised expectations that this season would be different. A further £45.5m in January on four more additions was another statement of intent, but Marsch was unable to mould his new-look side into a winning one.
He was sacked in February with the club above the bottom three only on goal difference, with their last victory coming in November. Marsch tried to implement a similar style to his teams at Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig but he simply failed to fix Leeds' leaky defence.
Michael Skubala, the club's U21 head coach, had a forgettable three-game spell while Leeds scrambled for a replacement, settling on Javi Gracia. Results improved initially until Crystal Palace left Elland Road with a crushing 5-1 victory and Leeds never recovered from there.
Director of football Victor Orta was axed the day before Leeds hit the panic button and sacked Gracia for Sam Allardyce with four games remaining. Allardyce claimed in his first press conference he is "just as good" as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta, but four winless games later and Leeds' fate was sealed.
Taking only nine points away from home all season showed a lack of versatility and grit to grind out results. Key players like Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo were either injured or misfiring. Talent such as Wilfried Gnonto was underused.
Bielsa's legacy is the club being back in the Championship where he found them.
Sky Sports' Nick Wright:
Having clinched Champions League qualification ahead of Arsenal in May and opened the new campaign with a thumping 4-1 win over Southampton in August, few could have predicted quite how spectacularly Tottenham's season would unravel.
Spurs sat level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table in mid-September, the outlook seemingly bright, but a 3-1 reverse at the Emirates Stadium prompted a run which included seven losses in 12 Premier League games and they never really recovered.
Antonio Conte appeared increasingly detached and downbeat in the dugout and the situation came to a head when, having recovered from surgery to remove his gall bladder in March, he launched an extraordinary attack on his players after a late collapse against Southampton.
By that point, Tottenham had already lost all hope of silverware, crashing out of the FA Cup against second-tier Sheffield United, then exiting the Champions League with a lifeless performance at home to AC Milan in the second leg of their last-16 tie a week later.
Conte left under a cloud, only for the club to name his assistant Cristian Stellini as interim boss. It felt like another misstep and so it proved, the 49-year-old axed after a dismal 6-1 loss to Newcastle in which Spurs conceded five goals inside the first 21 minutes.
Still, though, there was no permanent appointment, with the popular but underqualified Ryan Mason next to step into the breach and Tottenham's dismal form continuing, despite the best efforts of Harry Kane, who somehow plundered 28 Premier League goals as his team-mates floundered.
Most supporters will just feel relieved that a nightmarish campaign is finally over but, with the club seemingly no closer to naming their next manager, and with Kane's future at the club once again in doubt, there is little clarity about where exactly they go next.
The Premier League season will kick-off on August 12 and conclude nine months later on May 19, 2024.
The start is one week later than the 2022/23 launch as the schedule returns to normal following the Covid-19 pandemic and the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which provided disruption during the previous three seasons.
However, the fixture list provides for a return of the mid-season player break which will take place between January 13-20.
Fixtures for the new Premier League season will be revealed at 9am on Thursday June 15 and you can follow the announcements on Sky Sports News and across Sky Sports' digital platforms.
