London, May 12 (IANS) Antonin Kinsky produced a vital save to help Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw against Leeds United.
The result took Spurs two points clear of West Ham United in 18th with two games of their season remaining, while Leeds jump up to 14th.
Mathys Tel went from hero to zero as he opened the scoring with a stunning curling effort in the 50th minute to put Roberto De Zerbi’s inside in front, but he was involved at the other end soon after, Premier League reports.
A high ball dropped inside the box and Tel’s attempted acrobatic clearance caught Ethan Ampadu with a high foot, with a penalty awarded following a VAR review.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin stepped up to ruthlessly dispatch the resulting spot-kick, and despite Spurs’ best efforts, it was Leeds who came closest to snatching all three points, but Kinsky produced a stunning save on to the crossbar to deny Sean Longstaff in stoppage time.
A cagey start from Spurs was almost punished in the 21st minute, but Kinsky got down well to repel Joe Rodon’s header at the back post off the line.
But Spurs ended the first half in the ascendancy and almost punished Karl Darlow’s error, with the Leeds goalkeeper penalised for holding on to the ball longer than eight seconds, only for Richarlison and Pedro Porro to see their respective efforts from the resulting corner blocked.
Joao Palhinha then bundled his way into the Leeds area but fired over the crossbar, though the hosts opened the scoring in sensational style five minutes into the second half when Tel picked out the top-right corner with a stunning curling effort.
But the Frenchman was then penalised in his own penalty area when his boot caught Ampadu high as he went to clear the ball out, and Calvert-Lewin stepped up to lash the ball beyond Kinsky’s grasp in the 74th minute.
And Longstaff could have broke Spurs hearts late in second-half stoppage time, but he saw his near-post strike tipped on to the crossbar by Kinsky, before James Maddison had appeals for a late penalty waved away after going down under Lukas Nmecha’s tackle.
–IANS
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