Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds United: Premier League – live!

69 min The dynamic Poveda-Ocampo wins a corner for Leeds, who continue to ooze irrepressibility. Phillips’ corner is headed away.

67 min “The problem with VAR regarding penalties is that it only shows ‘contact’ but not whether this is enough to impair another player,” says Foderoy78. “Contact is allowed when shielding a ball or during tackling so it’s hard to use it as the sole perpetrator of a pen. The only person who knows if it’s was enough contact is the ‘fouled’ player. When running at full flight it sometimes only needs the slightest touch to be tripped but every tackle is different.”

Yes, agreed. Another problem is that penalties are never given unless a player goes down. It’s all a bit of a mess, and the traditional remedy – the increased use of common sense – isn’t compatible with VAR. I think that in time (I’m talking 10/20 years), there will be two tiers of fouls in the penalty area. I don’t love that idea but it’s better than the current situation.

66 min Meslier makes another good save, pushing Kane’s shot round the near post. Bergwijn played Kane in; the angle was tight so he slapped it towards the near post and hoped for the best. Meslier was well positioned and pushed it behind for a corner.

66 min A third Leeds change: Pablo Hernandez replaces Rodrigo.

65 min Matt Doherty is booked for a fresh-air swipe in the direction of Luke Ayling.

64 min Alioski is replaced by Jamie Shackleton. He goes to right back, Stuart Dallas to left back.

63 min Spurs look like they might score every time they win the ball back. Who’d be an xG algorithm?

62 min: Great goalkeeping! Meslier makes a brilliant point-blank save from Bergwijn, who took Son’s pass on the run, moved away from Alioski and blootered a shot towards goal.

62 min “One of the best things about Maxi Rodriguez’s goal,” says Robert Smithson, “is Carlos Bilardo yelling “arco!” (go for goal!) just before he hit it.”

61 min A Leeds change: Ian Poveda-Ocampo replaces Jack Harrison.

60 min Leeds are playing with their usual optimism, despite the scoreline. Spoiler alert: this doesn’t end 3-0.

59 min “Happy new year Rob,” says Guy Hornsby. “After the last few games I bailed on watching this game after 18 minutes of Spurs saying ‘come on then Bielsa’. The 2020-grade pessimist in me was expecting a 1-1 draw after 1 shot on target and a 92nd minute equaliser, so chose a walk with the little one. She’s blissfully unaware of how jinxes work (yet) but I may just do that every time in future. Perhaps this is a new dawn. Probably not.”

There are no new dawns, only new years. Now pass me my kombucha.

57 min Son is too unselfish for his own good. He breaks into the area from the left, eschews the obvious shot and instead tries a square ball to the unmarked Hojbjerg that is blocked.

57 min Leeds’ last five games: 5-2, 2-6, 1-0, 5-0, 0-3. God bless them.

56 min “All these debates about penalties would be irrelevant,” says Richard Hirst, “if all teams were as sporting as Fulham and had such incompetent penalty takers.”

Look, man, that’s a good email.

55 min Son’s shot is blocked by a topknot, Phillips I think.

54 min “Personally I think it’s more about what constitutes a foul,” says Nicholas of my proposed Ifab penalty review. “Every description of a foul revolves around how a player makes a tackle or challenge. How an opponent tries to win a free kick or penalty does not change the nature of the tackle or challenge. His challenge for the ball has not become careless – which is the minimum requirement – upon the action of the opponent. The opponent being “clever” has not in any way, changed the way someone tackled. If the challenge for the ball was legitimate by any usual definition (not a lunge, no studs showing, no high foot etc) how can it become careless according to the action of the opponent?”

You could argue it is careless for not taking into account the potential movement of the opponent before you get the ball. As with most basic rules, we’ve all lost our bearings since the VAR magnifying glass came out. It’s surely time for us all to stop, collaborate and listen.

53 min Spurs are creating chances at will. Kane twists neatly away from Ayling on the left edge of the area and smashes a rising shot into the side netting.

Son’s excellent outswinging corner from the right was met by Alderweireld, who flicked a header that went through Meslier and into the net. Meslier had started to come from the cross, which meant he was moving towards his own goal as he tried to make the save. He pushed the ball away when he was in his own net, but technology confirmed it had just crossed the line.

The respite was brief for Leeds.

50 min Ndombele hits a vicious shot from 15 yards that is really well saved by the falling Meslier. He couldn’t hold it but managed to shovel it behind for a corner.

48 min “Wondering if the one of the main difference between the two teams is the difference in quality between Kane and Bamford,” says Paul Fitzgerald. “Both teams will get decent chances to score but after watching Bamford against Man Utd recently, I don’t know if he has that killer instinct against top sides.”

Fair point. Imagine Leeds with Harry Kane! In fact, Spurs should loan him to Leeds for the rest of the season in the interests of the nation’s morale.

47 min “A soft pen can still be a clear pen,” says Phil Beattie. “I agree with your general sentiment on pens, but think you’re picking the wrong example. The challenge on Bergwijn is a silly challenge to make but it’s a clear foul and always would have been seen as a foul. He’s entitled to let the ball run across his body, and Paul Johnson’s accusation of cheating is frankly a little ridiculous.”

I agree that it was a foul, albeit just outside the area IMEHO. I don’t think Bergwijn cheated but he did know what he was doing. That’s his right, and defenders need to be much less impetuous in a VAR world, but all these penalties don’t sit comfortably at all.

“Gary Naylor is, of course, correct about Bale,” says Matt Dony. “He’s even got the regulation Leeds Topknot.”

The more you see that Spurs penalty, the dodgier it looks. The contact looks fractionally outside the area, and you could also argue that Bergwijn made the foul by stepping across Alioski. I think it was a foul, in truth, but I don’t think it was in the penalty area.

“Barry Davies would love this Leeds side,” says Gary Naylor. “There’s a ‘uses him by not using him’ in every attack.”

Quiz question (no cheating; it’s 2021 and we’re going to do this life properly): who was used by not being used in the Barry Davies commentary mentioned by Gary?

Peep peep! Spurs have done a fairly predictable number on Leeds. They had less than 40 per cent of the ball but looked very dangerous on the break, particularly after Harry Kane’s soft penalty gave them the lead. Kane made the second for his football friend Son, a beautiful goal just before half-time that leaves Leeds with plenty to do.

45+2 min “Another soft penalty,” says Paul Johnson. “Just manoeuvre trailing leg into path of defender, wait for slight touch, fall over and penalty ‘won’. ‘Winning’ a penalty and ‘entitled to go down’ should be expunged from dictionary. If you’ve ‘won’ a penalty, you’ve cheated.”

I think it’s slightly subtler than that, but essentially I agree with you. Now that VAR is here to stay, I think Ifab need an urgent review of what constitutes a penalty.

45+1 min Kane plays a good pass into the area for Son, who is unusually indecisive and loses the ball. That was another chance. This could easily be 5-3 to Spurs, in a game that Leeds have dominated.

45 min Spurs could have had four or five in this half. Ndombele’s cross on the turn is intercepted by Ayling. The ball runs towards Davies, who spanks a first-time shot over the bar from a tight angle.

Hojbjerg won a loose ball 40 yards from goal and gave it to his superior, Harold Kane. He moved away from Struijk, down the right wing, and curled a delicious ball around the defence towards the near post. Son got away from Dallas, waited for the ball to bounce and swept it deftly past Meslier at the near post. That’s a lovely goal, Son’s 100th for Spurs.

Leeds have been mugged, and we all saw it coming.

43 min Bamford shoots straight at Lloris from the edge of the area. That was a decent chance.

41 min Harrison wanders infield, receives a square pass from Klich on the edge of the D and whips an excellent shot just over the bar.

40 min Raphinha’s cross is headed away to Alioski on the edge of the area. His volley goes out for a throw-in.

39 min “How many world-class strikers of Kane’s quality would agree to fall back and become more of a feeder to Son and the other Spurs attackers?” says Mary Waltz. “Kane’s self-sacrificing buy-in to Jose’s tactics is admirable to say the least.”

Whatever happened to Gary Cooper? He’s right there, up top for Spurs.

38 min Alioski’s low cross towards the near post finds Bamford, whose first-time poke is blocked by Dier. Bamford’s movement in front of Dier was excellent but he didn’t connect with the shot as well as he would have liked.

37 min Kane and Son are both down. Kane is holding his right knee, which is a particular concern; he landed awkwardly after a struggle for possession with Ayling. Both are going to continue for now.

35 min: Bergwijn misses an excellent chance! A poor header from Raphinha went to Davies on the left wing. He lost the recovering Raphinha and picked out Bergwijn with a good low cross. Bergwijn turned beautifully but then spanked his shot into orbit from 10 yards.

35 min More good play from Leeds. Raphinha’s pass infield is flicked behind his standing leg by Klich on the edge of the area. Rodrigo runs onto it but slices a tame shot through to Lloris with the outside of the right foot.

34 min “Bergwijn creates the contract by jumping into Alioski,” says Drew Lundgren.

In VAR football, almost any contact – however it comes about – is a penalty. It’s a mess.

33 min Klich pokes a short pass towards Rodrigo on the edge of the area. He lets it run through his legs towards Bamford, and Davies comes across to make a vital tackle.

32 min Almost a second goal for Spurs. Alderweireld, still up from an earlier set piece, has a shot blocked. Kane, on the half turn, curls the rebound well wide of the far post. That was a surprisingly tame effort.

Kane puts the penalty straight down the middle. That’s his 205th goal for Tottenham!

VAR check It’s a soft penalty but I doubt it will be overturned.