Spurs two points clear above drop zone after Leeds draw stretches relegation fight
Tottenham failed to convert home advantage on Sunday, being held to a 1-1 draw by Leeds United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and dragging their margin above the Premier League drop zone down to just two points. According to BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty, Spurs hit the self-destruct button once more in a season-long pattern of frustrating their own progress.
The equaliser came from Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who converted from the penalty spot late in a tense second half. With two games remaining, Spurs supporters had expected the result to nudge their club towards Premier League safety. Instead, they will spend the week monitoring scoreboards if rival sides directly below them in the table pick up points.
Manager Roberto De Zerbi's possession-based system promised much in the autumn, but the Italian coach's side have repeatedly fluctuated between cohesion and chaos. Speaking after the final whistle, De Zerbi was unwilling to entertain doom. "My players are good enough to stay up," he said. "We have to believe."
Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, returned to the starting eleven after two months out and on the edge of leaving the club this summer, produced what BBC analysts called "one of the saves of the season" in the closing stages. The Czech keeper's redemption stop preserved the share of the spoils.
Leeds' set-piece routines have caused chaos all over the Premier League this season, and the visitors converted that pressure into chances on Sunday. A series of corners pinned Spurs back; the home defence repeated mistakes spotted across two consecutive matches.
The atmosphere inside the stadium oscillated between roar and unease. The crowd reaction mirrored a campaign in which Spurs have rarely felt fully convinced of themselves, even in victory. Last week's win against a side battling for European places was clouded by similar second-half wobbles.
McNulty's analysis pointed to the difficulty of sustaining a high-pressing style with a thinned squad. Injuries and accumulated fatigue have forced Spurs to lean more on transitional moments late in the season. The depth has not been there for De Zerbi to rotate as freely as he would have liked.
The last two fixtures of Spurs' Premier League campaign will be decisive. An away trip to a fellow strugglers and a home meeting against a side chasing the top six both look like winnable assignments on paper, although Spurs have made few things look easy this year. Survival, mathematically at least, remains in their hands.
De Zerbi emphasised that he still trusts his players but insisted the performance must be balanced across the full ninety minutes. He also asked supporters to keep faith: "When the stadium is with us, we are a different team. We will need that energy now."
The draw makes results elsewhere in the relegation race critical for Tottenham. Attention this coming weekend will not just be on Spurs' own fixture but on the Sunday matches involving the sides immediately below them in the table.