At a glance:
- Mathys Tel scored and conceded a penalty
- Frenchman committed a foul on Ethan Ampadu
- Roberto De Zerbi defends Tottenham youngster
Mathys Tel was in the thick of the action as Tottenham played out a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Leeds United in the Premier League.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side are now two points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United and are unbeaten in their last four games in the competition.
Tottenham knew a win would take them within touching distance of Premier League safety, but they couldn’t get all three points as Leeds United showed their class with a gritty display away from home.
Tel scored a goal and later conceded a penalty after a needless foul on Ethan Ampadu.
And speaking after the game, Roberto De Zerbi defended the Tottenham attacker.
De Zerbi leaps to Tel’s defence
The Frenchman looked likely in the first half and broke the deadlock after the interval with a fantastic curling effort from outside the box.
Read More: Michael Owen calls out massive VAR blunder during Tottenham 1-1 Leeds
However, in the 72nd-minute, he went from hero to villain. As the ball dropped to him inside the Tottenham box, he attempted an overhead kick to clear the ball, but he caught Ampadu on his face rather than the ball.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted the resulting spot-kick to restore parity for Leeds, which led to Tottenham dropping two crucial points in the relegation battle.
Despite his error, De Zerbi feels Tel fared quite well on the night, adding that he is just a young player who is still learning his trade in the big leagues.
“A big hug and a big kiss. Nothing more because he is a young player, he is a big talent and he scored a great goal,” said De Zerbi in his post-match press conference.
“He made a mistake for the experience because he has not got the right experience and he has not played too many games in his career and we have to accept, but I am proud and I am happy for the mentality we show.”
De Zerbi on Tottenham’s form
Tottenham have now picked up eight points from their last four Premier League games in a run of form that has seen them climb out of the relegation zone.
De Zerbi, however, feels his team won’t take their foot off the gas as he spoke about how Tottenham’s performances have been in recent weeks.
Read More: ‘Crazy’ – Carragher says De Zerbi will be ‘furious’ with one Tottenham player after Leeds draw
“We didn’t play a great game like in Villa Park; we played a good game and did enough to win. We could lose the game at the end because before the last 15 to 20 minutes, they didn’t shoot at our goal and just one in the first half.
“We had 14 corners against two, five chances to score against two, we came inside the goal area 50 times against 27, but we didn’t score two goals.”
Tottenham take on Everton next in the Premier League.
With West Ham facing Newcastle United before they kick off against the Toffees, De Zerbi and co could effectively seal their Premier League status if they beat David Moyes’s side and the Hammers lose at St. James’ Park.
