Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford scored at Elland Road in front of watching England head coach Gareth Southgate, to boost his chances of going to Euro 2020 next month. Stuart Dallas put Leeds ahead with his eighth league goal of the season, pouncing from close range after Hugo Lloris’ fine reaction save had stopped Sergio Reguilon scoring an own goal. Son Heung-min equalised 12 minutes later with a typically clinical finish, after a neat Dele Alli run-and-pass. Just before half-time, Bamford tapped in Ezgjan Alioski’s cross before substitute Rodrigo condemned Spurs to their first league ..read more

Tottenham’s first choice to replace Jose Mourinho – sorry, Ryan, you’re not getting the gig full-time – was RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann, but that’s off the table – Nagelsmann has agreed to become Bayern Munich’s head coach next season, and which sane manager out there wouldn’t choose Bayern over Spurs. Daniel Levy has since turned his gaze towards Ajax, and their head coach Erik ten Hag. According to a story in the Guardian, Ten Hag is happy in Amsterdam but also could be tempted by a move to the Premier League. Suitably vague? Ten Hag, a former centre-back who enjoyed a modest playing ..read more

How was this going to end any differently? The best club side in Europe, managed by an elite head coach who may well go down as the greatest manager of all time, against Ryan Mason’s Spurs: lads, what did anyone expect but a comfortable City win? As soon as the Tottenham team-sheet was made public, it was clear that they had almost no chance. You can’t play Harry Winks in midfield for 90 minutes at Wembley and expect a miracle. Don’t be fooled by the tight scoreline – this was an embarrassingly one-sided match, summed up perfectly for me when Pierre-Emile Hjobjerg – a useful but very limited ..read more

First this: Spurs win after trailing at half-time for the first time in the league this season. Almost as if there was some kind of malevolent force that was inhibiting the players in the changing room at half-time that is no longer there. — Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) April 21, 2021 Then this: Then the match report: Writing as a Tottenham fan, it was a tonic to watch a Spurs team not cowering in Mourinho’s miserable shadow. This was not an emphatic or particularly stylish win for Ryan Mason in his first match in charge, nor any kind of new dawn, but Son Heung-min’s 90th-minute penalty s ..read more

Arsenal: As a result of listening to you and the wider football community over recent days we are withdrawing from the proposed Super League. We made a mistake, and we apologise for it. — Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 20, 2021 Sincerity rating: At least they said sorry. It’s not much but it’s something. Spurs: We can confirm that we have formally commenced procedures to withdraw from the group developing proposals for a European Super League (ESL).#THFC #COYS — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 20, 2021 Sincerity rating: Meh. Regrets, Daniel Levy had a few. Man Utd: We will not be part ..read more

Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Tottenham after just 17 months in charge. He replaced Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs’ head coach in November 2019 and led the club to sixth in the Premier League last season. Spurs currently lie seventh, having picked up two points from their past three league games, and were knocked out of the Europa League in March. They face Man City in the League Cup final on Sunday, and will do so with caretaker manager Ryan Mason in charge. This season, Mourinho suffered 10 league defeats in a single campaign for the first time in his managerial career. And no top-flight ..read more

Harry Kane scored twice at Goodison to earn Tottenham a point, but he limped off with a foot injury near the end of the contest, sparking fears about his availability for the imminent League Cup final. Kane’s goals, both clinical close-range volleys, saw him reach 20 Premier League goal in a season for the fifth time, a mark bettered only by Alan Shearer (seven) and Sergio Aguero (six). Spurs cannot afford to lose him. The England captain punished a Michael Keane error to open the scoring, but the visitors’ lead did not last long as Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised from the penalty spot after Jame ..read more

Paul Pogba has criticised Jose Mourinho’s man-management, accusing him of “going against players” and making them feel like “they don’t exist any more”. Paul, I can well believe it. Mourinho made Pogba the world’s most expensive player after his 2016 appointment as Man Utd head coach. Pogba was a key man for his manager as United claimed a League Cup and Europa League double in 2017, but the pair had an unsettled relationship before Mourinho was sacked in December 2018 and succeeded by Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Mourinho’s relationship with some of his players had deteriorated following that first ..read more

Noah Solskjaer, Ole’s 20-year-old son – baby faces run in the family, clearly Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s son Noah has waded in, keys in hand, to back his old man in his spat with Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho; the Man Utd boss said he would not feed his son if he simulated an injury. The row erupted following United’s 3-1 win in the Premier League on Sunday when OGS criticised the Spurs forward Son Heung-min for overreacting to a blow to the face. United had a goal disallowed after Son appeared to be struck by Scott McTominay in the build-up, with Solskjaer cheekily saying afterwards that i ..read more

The League Cup Final between Spurs and Man City will be allowed to have 8,000 fans in attendance at Wembley Stadium after the match was confirmed as a pilot event to test the return of big crowds in England. Rick Parry, chairman of the English Football League, said it was an “important milestone”. Rick, you’re not wrong. Some 2,000 tickets will be made available to fans of each club, with the remainder allocated to local residents in Brent, plus NHS staff. Supporters from both clubs will also have to prove they don’t have the coronavirus, whilst City fans face the prospect of having to use s ..read more