Monday, December 23

Leeds Seal FA Cup Shock over Spurs

Leeds sent Tottenham crashing out of the FA Cup with a famous fourth-round victory at Elland Road.

Luke Varney ran clear to give the Championship side an early lead as Tottenham failed to convert a series of first-half chances.

Ross McCormack made it 2-0 after more poor defending allowed him to turn inside Steve Caulker and slam home.

Clint Dempsey headed home to give Spurs hope but substitute Jon Obika could not convert his chance to level late on.

Tottenham had arrived in Yorkshire fourth in the Premier League and one of the favourites for the Cup, having reached the semi-finals twice in the last three seasons.

It is only a decade or so ago since Leeds were in similar company. Although they are slowly climbing back towards the top flight after spending time in the third tier, Neil Warnock’s side came into this match in 11th place in the Championship and definite under-dogs.

But despite the decline in their fortunes, Leeds have still sprung a few recent cup shocks – beating Everton and Southampton in the Capital One Cup this season and, as a League One club, beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2010.

Leeds manager Neil Warnock: “I really enjoyed the match. We didn’t get anything other than what we deserved today and we had a few chances as well.

“It was a typical FA Cup game. They were like that when I was a kid.

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas: “We had a good 15 minutes before the goal when we had some good chances, and I think it was important to score early.

“It was difficult as we were always chasing the game and this is a difficult place to play, and we couldn’t play our football as well as we could have.

“We wanted to go through in the competition, but we were knocked out by a Leeds team who were extremely competitive today, and you have to give credit to them.”

– bbc

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