a season to forget.
Spurs wrapped things up with a fairly comfortable victory against a Leeds that was facing relegation but were hampered by having an even more a clueless individual in charge than Spurs managed in a season of three managers.
Needing victory to give themselves the slightest hope of survival, so in other words needing goals, Big Fat Sam Allardyce sent his team out with a back five, with an added defender in the midfield. Yes, Leeds had chances but then that was due to the Spurs backline, but they only managed two on target and when the opposition scores four. See the problem Sam?
This was a Leeds side that picked up all bar 9 points at home, against a Spurs side who hadn’t won an away game in the league since beating Fulham in January. A Spurs with Sanchez and Emerson on the right side of defence and Davies on the left. A Spurs with nothing really to play for – do you really want the Europa Conference League? But when you’ve got Allardyce who ends this season’s stint with Leeds with a worse record than Spurs’ second manager of the season, Stellini, after the same amount of games in charge, four.
I mean where do you go when you send out a team full of defenders and they go behind in a time measured in seconds?
Emerson lofted a ball forward, to no one in particular, Porro made something out of it, knocked it back to Son, who when crowded squared the ball to Kane who banged it in with 90 seconds on the clock.
It wasn’t long after that Leeds saw what they could have won. Koch free as he could be in the middle of the Spurs area, missed the easiest of headers, with Spurs defenders oblivious to his presence. But he’s one of those defenders Allardyce picked. That defence was there to be attacked, Leeds were doing that but weren’t finishing it off. Spurs weren’t doing much more than their hosts in that first half.
Don’t know how the half time team talk went in the home dressing room but it didn’t even take 90 seconds for Spurs to score again after the whistle.
Some great work by Kane in the build up, Gazzaesque chip over the player on the halfway line, strength to keep on the ball, then playing it through to Porro, a deflection took it behind the Spaniard, running round the ball he slammed it in the far post.
Two down, it still took Allardyce another 15 minutes before he took off some of his centrebacks. Not long after they finally finished something off. Davies again failing to shut down a shot.
But it’s the hope that kills you. Just a goal down, a Spurs that have been shaky, very shaky when defending a slender lead. But it was only a little over 2 minutes before that hope was extinguished. Porro latching onto a ball forward, just Kane, Son and two defenders ahead of him, he ran with the ball before playing it out to Kane, one touch to control it, the second touch to score it.
Kane’s 30th goal of this horrible season. This is only the fourth time this century that that total wouldn’t have got you at least a share of the Golden Boot. There’s only nine players who have scored 30 or more goals in a 38 game Premier League season, Harry Kane became the first player to do it twice and both times he hasn’t picked up the Golden Boot.
30 goals in the season, this season, for that Spurs should count double.
It wasn’t until the dying seconds that Leeds season was really summed up. On his final outing for the club after six and a half, mainly fruitless years, bar the odd high spot. Lucas Moura danced through the massed ranks of Leeds centrebacks, to score his 20th league goal for the club, half of which came in his first full season.
The adulation was a bit much to take. You saw in that CL semi against Ajax what he can do. You saw here what he can do against a defeated team but for most of those 6 and half seasons so saw him do his headless chicken routine. Might have a nice smile, be a nice guy but there should have been far more from him than that one night in Amsterdam. Of course, if the ref in that League Cup final against City hadn’t bottled it his runs that skinned the City defence but were stopped by more blatant fouls that went unpunished than you’ve ever seen, he could have had another moment of glory.
And then that was that the final whistle went and a season to forget for both teams won’t be forgotten.
As Spurs continue their struggles for a manager with the prospect of that 30th goal being Kane’s 280th and final one for the club…