FA Cup 4th Round Replay Liveblog: Leeds United v. Tottenham Hotspur

Will Jermaine Beckford hurt Spurs once again?

Not long until kick-off, and this game has plenty of intrigue. For example, can Spurs halt a mini-slide that has seen them dropping points in the EPL (1-2-1 in January)? Can Matthew Dawson not concede a 96th minute penalty that got them here in the first place?

Leeds have been stumbling too (1 win in their last 6 games after that famous win at Old Trafford); just ask Ned about the latest League One standings, so this game stands as mildly pivotal for either side. Whoever wins gets a bit more confidence heading down the stretch (not to mention a few hundred grand for making it to the 5th Round of the FA Cup), while the loser continues to wade through self-doubt.

Lineups and pith after the jump. Stick around, won’t you?
LINEUPS AND TEAM NEWS

The hosts run out a familiar XI, hoping for some of that magic from wing magician Robert Snodgrass to give Beckford all the service he might need. Meanwhile, Redknapp names a fairly full-strength XI despite being fixated on holding that 4th EPL spot. As a Liverpool fan, I feel obliged to wish injury upon their precious midfield, namely that troublesome Croat, Niko Kranjcar.

Leeds United (4-4-2): Ankergren, Bromby, Michalik, Naylor, Hughes, Snodgrass, Howson, Doyle, Johnson, Becchio, Beckford.
Subs: A Martin, Crowe, Grella, Robinson, Somma, Hatfield, White.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-1, as Crouch doesn’t really count as a full “player”): Gomes; Corluka, Bassong, Dawson, Bale; Bentley, Jenas, Huddlestone, Kranjcar; Crouch, Defoe.
Subs: Alnwick, Dervite, Modric, Palacios, Rose, Dean Parrett, Ryan Fredericks.

2.43pm – They’re in the tunnel and ready to trot out. Now, some firm handshakes in the middle, and it looks to be awful conditions at Elland Road. Damp and muddy underfoot, a chill in the air, and some gritty tackling to be expected.

We’re off! Leeds in pristine white, Spurs in that nifty navy blue with the yellow accents. Hoof ball ensues initially.

1 min: A bizarre underhit backpass from stand-in left-back Andy Hughes catches Casper Ankergren in no-man’s land and Defoe is able to nip in and shoot, but it loses power on the wet surface and the home side are able to clear. A punt down the other end is successfully chased down by Beckford, but he’s isolated and can’t hold possession.

4 mins: Leeds win a throw down the right and it’s quickly ferried across to the top of the box for Jonny Howson. He has time to shoot, but he shapes his curling effort comfortably over the bar.

6 mins: First free-kick of the game and it goes for Spurs, some 30 yards out on the right-hand side after Jenas is felled by Naylor as the two fought for Bentley’s square pass. Bentley and Gareth Bale hover over the ball. Definitely strikeable from that distance…

… naturally, Bentley pings it off the wall and Spurs have a corner. Bentley hoofs in an outswinger right onto Bassong’s right foot, though unsurprisingly, the center-back volleys it well over the bar. The defender had time to control and shoot, but in his search for a highlight reel goal, he fluffs a decent chance.

10 mins: Bright start from Spurs. Bentley beats Hughes and makes it to the byline where he pings in a low cross. Ankergren sticks to his line and lets Bromby sweep it out for a corner under pressure from Crouch. Kranjcar swings it in but Leeds clear it out for a throw. Bale’s delivery is deep into the area, though again Leeds are able to clear. I reckon they’ll miss not having Patrick “Rock” Kisnorbo at the back tonight.

12 mins: More pressure at the Leeds end. Corluka’s diagonal cross is chested down nicely by Crouch for Defoe, but the tiny striker screws his shot wide of goal. Shoulda done better, Jermain.

14 mins: Huddlestone gives Leeds a scoring chance, failing to properly clear Jonny Howson’s probing cross, and from 20+ yards, Michael Doyle wallops a daisy-cutter that is easily saved by Gomes.

15 mins: Kranjcar yields possession easily to Howson in the middle, though his surging run ends with a mis**t 1-2 with Beckford and Bassong is there to hoof it clear.

19 mins: It’s a bit scrappy in midfield at the moment, though there is plenty of room early on for Howson and Doyle to operate for the home side. Beckford needlessly fouls Gomes in a fight for a cross, and Spurs settle things down.

21 mins: Howson chops down Bentley after a neat 1-2 with Corluka had sprung the winger free, giving Spurs a free-kick well out on the right touchline. Bentley swings it to the back post where Crouch nods it back into the middle, but no Spurs players are close enough to capitalize and the defense clear their lines.

24 mins: Some lovely play by Richard Snodgrass after another Crouch knock-down was cleared (where was Defoe?), beating two defenders and cutting it back onto his favoured left foot. However, as he shaped to shoot, Bale recovered and the danger dissipates. Down the other end, Defoe immediately has a glorious chance to put his side up 1-0. Beating the offside trap, Defoe’s one-on-one with Ankergren was won by the imposing Danish keeper, who narrowed the angle and got enough on Defoe’s low shot to redirect it wide of goal. Bentley then wastes the resulting corner. Nice passage of play, that.

26 mins: Another sharp save by Ankergren! A surging run by Kranjcar is capped with a pass wide to a charging Gareth Bale, and his pacy cross takes a wicked deflection off Leigh Bromby and is destined to tuck inside the near post… though the Dane had other ideas with a brilliant reflex dive low to his left that keeps it out. Bromby does the rest in scrambling the loose ball clear.

Much as Leeds are finding plenty of room to work in the heart of midfield, both Bentley and Bale are having luck getting open down the flanks.

29 mins: Jenas makes a rare burst down the left wing, but his square pass to Crouch at the top of the box is off-target and the chance goes begging. Too much mustard on the pass, I reckon. Or Crouch is just really, really slow. You pick.

30 mins: I was right about Leeds missing Kisnorbo. Defoe gets goalside of Lubomir Michalik, who obliges the fast striker by bundling him down clumsily from behind. Defoe and a nearby Crouch remonstrate with Andre Marriner, though the referee is inclined to take a leaf out of Howard Webb’s refereeing manual and he does nothing. Michalik should be sent off for that. His decision to let the ball bounce gave Defoe the advantage, and as last man, he clearly causes Defoe’s fall to the grass. Marriner does nothing. I’m stunned.

A minute or two later, Beckford is caught offside trying to get to a ball over the top.

33 mins: All replays clearly show the foul that Marriner and his Dopey-From-Snow-White-And-The-Seven-Dwarves-lookalike linesman failed to spot. If Marriner gives any kind of free-kick to acknowledge the foul, he has to show the red card. Still, I repeat: Marriner does nothing.

35 mins: Defoe has another cracking shot inside the box after Huddlestone couldn’t shoot, and Ankergren does well to get down and turn it around the post.

GOAL – Leeds United 0, Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Defoe, 37)
Finally, Defoe punishes the home side for giving him so many scoring chances. A fine run by David Bentley down the right gets him to the byline once again, and Defoe is unmarked near the penalty spot when he controls Bentley’s cross. It was an awful strike of the ball — scuffed off the outside of his left foot — but it drifts over everyone and settles in the top corner. Ankergren didn’t know much about that. A deserved goal, all things considered.

37 mins: The goal woke Leeds up; Gomes made a fine save to deny Naylor’s close-range header off an inswinging Snodgrass free-kick, and then Leeds get to ping a couple of corners in to the mixer in quick succession. Spurs clear the second but only as far as midfield, and when the ball comes back in to Leigh Bromby, his shot is blocked by a fine last-second tackle from Michael Dawson. He may not have gotten the one right in the first game, but that one was perfectly executed.

41 mins: Snodgrass bamboozles Bassong on the right side of the area and works enough room to fire in a couple of decent crosses, but the visitors are able to clear. Best players thus far: Snodgrass, Defoe, Bentley (in no particular order).

GOAL – Leeds United 1, Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Becchio, 44)
This is what happens when you don’t clear the ball effectively. Leeds have responded well since the Spurs goal, and, despite shouts of offside, it was a dopey goal to concede. Beckford nipped in round the back to chase a long ball back into the box, and while Spurs defenders waited for the linesman’s flag, Beckford stretched out his right foot and shot from close range. Gomes parried his effort, but Luciano Becchio was first to the loose ball and he gleefully slid it home. Cue pandemonium from the home fans. A soft goal to concede, offside or not, and right before half-time!

HALF TIME – Leeds United 1, Tottenham Hotspur 1
A scrappy, but entertaining game so far, and while Spurs are right to feel aggrieved for the Michalik foul on Defoe and possible offside on Jermaine Beckford for the equalizer, they haven’t done nearly enough to deserve a commanding lead. The heart of midfield is all Leeds, and while Bentley, Kranjcar and Defoe are all playing well moving forward, the backline looks shaky and bereft of confidence.

Back in 10 minutes.

Game on again! No substitutions, but I bet an awful lot of yelling in the Spurs dressing room.

46 mins: Peter Crouch has lost his boot. Aww. Not that he was doing anything with it on anyway. The hilarity of that continues when Defoe cuts wide left and whips in an inviting cross, though Crouch was preoccupied on the far touchline relacing his boot, instead of being on the end of that cross at perfect height for him to nod past Ankergren. Moron.

PETER CROUCH FOOTWEAR UPDATE: Well and truly secured on his clown-sized right foot.

48 mins: Becchio and Hughes try some trickery down the left wing, but the final cross in toward Beckford is disappointingly wide.

50 mins: Jermain Defoe has decided, probably correctly, that he’s going to try and win this game all by himself, rubbish as the bulk of his teammates have been thus far today. He receives possession wide left and dances across the top of the box, leaving marker Richard Naylor off-balance wondering when he should try a tackle. When Defoe finally gets dead center, he wraps his right foot around a menacing shot, though it’s always going over the bar (though not by much).

52 mins: Mayhem in the Leeds box! Spurs have attackers to spare and work it wide to Bentley. His cut-back for Defoe is intercepted by a desperate lunge, and then Kranjcar’s wayward shot is destined for Peter Crouch at the far post, but the tall man’s slide isn’t long enough and it flips off his toe past the post with an open goal beckoning. Leeds survive.

54 mins: Leeds work it right up the middle with ease to Beckford, who turns and shoots with Bassong and Dawson backing off, though his low shot is deflected wide. Snodgrass buries the corner deep into the area, but Spurs manage to clear.

55 mins: The home side are turning up the tempo and keeping Spurs firmly on the back foot with a couple more corners, though Bradley Johnson gives Spurs a breather when he comes in way late on Tom Huddlestone. No booking though, as Marriner, based on his lack of contributions in the 1st half, is a conscientious objector.

59 mins: A lovely save by Ankergren to deny Matthew Dawson’s strong flicked header off Bentley’s inswinging corner. The big Dane tipped it over the bar, and Spurs wasted the second effort.

YELLOW CARD, SPURS: Bentley, 59
The right-winger, who’s been playing well today to the surprise of just about everyone, slides in late on Naylor as the two scramble for a loose ball on the edge of the Leeds box. He remonstrates a bit with Marriner, but it seems like a fair shout.

61 mins: Behold the power of this crack officiating team! Two offsides called in quick succession: one on Defoe (he was clearly onside), and one on Becchio at the other end.

Whoa, Crouch won a header near goal! Not to fear, it looped gently into Ankergren’s arms.

63 mins: Jenas tees up Huddlestone for a shot from 25 yards, and though the shot is bullet-strong, it’s always going over the bar from the minute it leaves his foot. Nice spell of pressure by Spurs that led to the scoring chance, too.

65 mins: Bentley nips past the useless Andy Hughes and cuts infield, blasting a shot at Ankergren from distance and ignoring his teammates wide left in the process. Ankergren tipped the shot over the bar, but Bentley’s corner that followed missed all the navy-shirted men in the box and Leeds clear their lines comfortably.

68 mins: Martin Tyler opines on Beckford’s future at Everton. Did I miss something in the entire month of January?

GOAL, BUT NOT GOAL! A lovely run by Gareth Bale to overlap on the left culminates in a perfect low cross along the 6-yard-box that beats Ankergren, leaving Defoe with a simple tap-in. However, Defoe, in his eagerness to get on the end of Bale’s cross, was offside. He seems shocked, but not too angry, so I’m guessing the linesman was right.

Defoe follows up by controling Crouch’s knockdown and rocketing a low shot straight at Ankergren.

72 mins: Crouch tries to trick Ankergren by shooting from wide on the right, though it doesn’t trouble the big Dane one bit. Then, Defoe beats Michalik to a long pass down the right side but is denied a shooting chance by a fine sliding tackle.

GOAL – Leeds United 1, Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Defoe, 74)
A few minutes of pressure yields a simple goal for the visitors! Bentley’s corner is taken short to Jenas, who spins a bit at the edge of the box before sending it back out to Bentley. His low cross into the 6-yard-box is too much for Ankergren to deal with, and Defoe is right there (and well onside, mercifully) to tap it home from two yards out. A nice goal, and, on the run of the last 5-10 minutes, richly deserved.

77 mins: The big question is, will Spurs kill this one off, or is there another injury-time penalty on the cards? Strategically, Paul Grayson finally shifts his left-back into midfield and puts DM Bradley Johnson in there to combat the marauding David Bentley (it feels so weird to call him that and not be joking), but it might well be too late.

80 mins: Leeds look a little shell-shocked and have suddenly forgotten how to string two passes together. This bodes well for Spurs, a full-time victory and me not liveblogging for another 30-45 minutes. Winners all round, really. For what it’s worth, the winner of this one gets a trip to Bolton, so you decide if that’s really a victory for Spurs.

YELLOW CARD, LEEDS: Johnson, 81
The midfielder-turned-left-back slides in late on his opposite man, making Marriner’s decision a ridiculously easy one.

85 mins: Gareth Bale manages another good deep cross from the left wing, though Peter Crouch, even with a wonderfully illegal jump off defender Michalik, can’t keep his header down and succeeds in giving some lucky kid in Row B a souvenir of this FA Cup tie.

LEEDS UNITED SUBSTITUTION: Bradley Johnson off, Jason Crowe on.

LEEDS UNITED SUBSTITUTION: Luciano Becchio off, the Yank Mike Grella on.

88 mins: Leeds’ response to the second (allowed) Defoe goal has been subdued, to say the least. They’re barely able to keep the ball, let alone get down the other end, though Beckford gets lucky in winning a free kick off Kranjcar’s outstretched arm. Free-kick to Leeds, wide right. Howson’s delivery is wonderful, but Leigh Bromby can’t keep his header down and it whizzes over the bar. The home crowd gasp loudly, dreaming of what could have been.

Two added minutes to play. Stay alert, Matthew Dawson!

90 mins + 1: Leeds can’t win the ball back as Spurs pass it comfortably around inside the Leeds half. Then Bromby hauls down Kranjcar for an easy free-kick, and the Croat takes an eternity to rise to his feet. Wolf-whistles echo from the away fans’ end, and Jenas takes the free-kick short. No rush, really.

90 mins + 2: Howson has a romp down the left, but he’s easily dispossessed by two Spurs players, and I think we’re about done here.

GOAL – Leeds United 1, Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Defoe, 90 + 2)
Leeds throw everyone forward for a final free-kick that’s quickly cleared upfield. Defoe has one defender to beat, gathers the ball comfortably at halfway and gallops on goal, rounds Ankergren, and slots into an empty net. Goodnight, Leeds.

FULL TIME: Leeds United 1, Tottenham Hotspur 3
Though they were profligate in the first half, the EPL side found their legs after the break and fully deserved the win. Also, Defoe’s hat-trick was well-taken, but then again, when a guy has 3,651 chances to score, you’d hope he could knock in at least three of them.

Thanks for following along, and thanks as always for the banter (here’s looking at you, Keith). We’ll be liveblogging some of those big EPL games at the weekend, so let the jibes continue until then.