Leeds United 'nuisance' identified by Man Utd legend in narrow Tottenham Hotspur defeat

Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney singled out one Leeds United star as a reason to be positive following Saturday’s home defeat against Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Daniel Farke’s men went into the game looking to stretch their unbeaten run to a third game after collecting four points from an away day at Wolverhampton Wanderers and a home draw with Bournemouth last weekend. However, the Whites found themselves a goal down midway through the first half when Mathys Tel opened the scoring the visitors.

Noah Okafor got Leeds back on level-terms ten minutes before half-time but it was the visitors that took all three points thanks to a second-half winner from record signing Mohammed Kudus. The Whites had their chances to claim a share of the spoils with Joe Rodon, Joel Piroe and Dominic Calvert-Lewin amongst those to try their luck without success as Spurs held firm in front of another sell-out crowd at Elland Road.

Rooney remained positive over the Whites performances despite their first home defeat of the season and pointed to the performance of summer signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin as his former Everton team-mates provided a useful presence at the top end of the pitch.

What did Wayne Rooney say about Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin?

As he assessed a number of Whites chances on Saturday night’s episode of Match of the Day, former England striker Rooney said: “I think Leeds were very unlucky to come away without a point today. I thought they created some really good chances and they just weren’t clinical enough. If we see here early on, Rodon coming around the back, it’s a good header, he’s unlucky really not to score.

“There’s really good pressure on the ball, really high, Dominic Calvert-Lewin can’t get the ball out of his feet and it’s not a great shot, he should do better. Again, what I like is Calvert-Lewin is always occupying the backline, the ball doesn’t come when it should have. But he carries on, he continues to be a threat, a really good first touch and unlucky with the shot and it’s a really good save from the keeper.

“This is what we know Calvert-Lewin can do, he’s really good in the air, he’s a presence and it’s a really good chance (for Joel Piroe) and an excellent save from the keeper. I think he’ll be really happy with the performance today, Daniel Farke, they played really well, they created chances, they just weren’t clinical enough. We know Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a very good player, the biggest issue has been keeping him fit. He’s started his career at Leeds well, he’s getting chances and if he stays fit, he’s a handful for any defender."

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