EPL: Tottenham begin Antonio Conte reign with a 2-1 win over Leeds

Antonio Conte began his stint as the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur with a 2-1 win over Leeds United on Sunday. It was a match of two halves at Tottenham Hotspur stadium as Spurs once again failed to register a single shot on target in the first half but netted two times in the second to secure three points. The visitors were clearly the better side in the opening half and deservedly took the lead through Daniel James. However the hosts equalized through Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg before Sergio Reguilon netted the winner.

Tottenham is a work in progress as they were still getting used to the new methods of Conte, who took charge of the London club after the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo following a poor start to the season.

Leeds started the match positively as Stuart Dallas’ low drive from outside the box went just wide of goal inside eight minutes. Spurs had their first meaningful attack midway through the first half as Son Heung-min’s cut back from the right side found Harry Kane inside the area, but the England striker couldn’t get his shot away as it was snuffed out by Kalvin Phillips.

Meanwhile Leeds continued to put pressure on the Tottenham defence as Adam Forshaw’s long ranger had Hugo Lloris stretching, it went agonisingly close to the crossbar. The visitors finally broke the deadlock, a minute before the break as Jack Harrison easily went past Emerson Royal before delivering the cross for James to slot in from close range.

Spurs ended a sixth consecutive half of Premier League football without an effort on target. Conte certainly needed to be more creative up front and they were, in the second half. A minute into the second half, Lucas Moura played through Kane on the right side of the penalty area, but his shot was blocked by the visiting goalkeeper Illan Meslier onto the post.

In the second half, we changed the plan tactically: Conte

Meanwhile at the other end, the goal scorer James tested Lloris with a clever poke with the outside of his right foot, having cut inside from the right. Moura was opening up the Leeds defence with his clever passes, the Brazilian picked up Son inside the area with a chipped ball and the South Korean’s volley deflected up onto the crossbar off Diego Llorente.

Joe Gelhardt’s shot was saved by Lloris before Spurs found the back of the net at the other end. Moura latched onto Reguilon’s cross before Meslier could clear in and laid the ball to Hojbjerg to bundle it into the net. 

The goal certainly lifted Spurs as they were now on the ascendency. Ben Davies got behind Liam Cooper but his effort was well saved by Meslier. Spurs took the lead in the 69th minute courtesy of a free-kick which they won following Cooper’s foul on Dier. Dier’s free-kick deflected off Struijk and onto the post before Reguilon reacted quickly to slot home from close range.

The win helped Tottenham to climb three places in the points table to seventh position while Leeds remained at the 17th spot, two points above the relegation zone.

Conte said after the match “We celebrated the win because I think that it was difficult and we knew this. I read the stats of Leeds and they were the first to bring high intensity and run. In the first half, we struggled a lot because they played better than us, they won tackles and they led the game. We conceded possession too much.

“In the second half, we changed the plan tactically and we started to put pressure in every area of the pitch. We created chances to score and maybe we deserved to score more goals. For sure it’s an important win because we needed this.

“After the first half, the fans weren’t satisfied with the football and I agreed with them. In the second, we changed it totally. I changed the plan tactically but they then played well and with personality.