Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Leeds United…

Spurs, at the top of the table, defeated the Whites.

Second Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Bell 44′, Soonsup)

Leeds United 0

Spurs: Craig (C) (Linton 83′), Robson (Cassanova 83′), Keeley (GK), Lyons-Foster, Dorrington, Ashcroft, Kyerematen, Soonsup-Bell (McKnight 79′), Donley, Santiago, Lankshear. Williams and Gunter were the bench warmers.

Leeds: Hjelde, Moore, Snowdon, Bate, Thomas, Gyabi, Carole (Sutcliffe 73′), van den Heuvel (GK), Mullen, Ferguson, Crew (Coleman 56′), and Hjelde. Subs not used: Debayo, Monteiro, and Mahady (GK).

Conciliator: Callum Walchester

Soonsup-Bell, Donley, Dorrington (Spurs), Bate (Leeds) are all reserved.

Location: Lamex Stadium

643 people were present.

Leeds United Under-21s battled valiantly throughout their away game against league leaders Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s in their final 2023 match, but ultimately lost by a single goal.

Spurs entered the game with a perfect record in the 2023–24 Premier League 2, having won eight of their previous nine games after Jude Soonsup–Bell’s first-half winner put them ahead 1-0.

The game took place at the Lamex Stadium, the home of Stevenage FC, a team in Sky Bet League One. The first half of the match was fairly evenly balanced, with opportunities for both teams.

The first one went to the hosts, but Leo Hjelde made a great early block to stop it. A few minutes later, Dani van den Heuvel had to make a save to deny Rio Kyerematen’s effort.

Leeds then went close at the other end.

Spurs’ Josh Keeley would then have some challenges between the posts, and he succeeded in handling them by producing a powerful one-on-one save to deny Luca Thomas.

In an entertaining match, van den Heuvel made two more stops, from Jamie Donley and Yago De Santiago Alonso. Once more, Keeley would firmly defend his goal posts against a strike from Lewis Bate.

Tottenham had one last, significant opportunity in the first forty-five minutes, and they took it. The Whites were caught off guard by a fast corner routine, which gave Soonsup-Bell the opportunity to flick a header into the bottom corner and give his team the lead at halftime.

Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Leeds United at halftime.

It would be some time before there were any more opportunities in the second half at Lamex Stadium, as there had been plenty in the first forty-five minutes.

When they did, van den Heuvel needed to be on his toes again and produced some excellent saves. He made a great save at close range to deny Soonsup-Bell, the first-half goal scorer, and then stopped Will Lankshear when the forward was one on one.

With Keenan Carole getting in on goal, Leeds had a great opportunity that was lost. He appeared to be fouled from behind as he flicked the attempt goalward, but no call was made.

Gardner made adjustments in an effort to bring his team back into the game. Carole and Cian Coleman were replaced by Harvey Sutcliffe and Cian Coleman.

Sutcliffe entered the box at a low angle and quickly identified Darko Gyabi. The midfielder deftly attempted to score, but his shot struck the post and bounced out, marking the second time in which the Whites had struck the woodwork.

On his next attempt, Sutcliffe went close, drilling a low effort from the edge of the box that was just barely deflected wide.

In the last game of the calendar year, the Whites were defeated by the league leaders despite their best efforts throughout the contest.

Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Leeds United at full time.