Leeds Beat Tottenham 1-0 at Elland Road as Okafor Scores Winner Two Minutes After Coming On

Leeds United beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Elland Road on Saturday, November 7, 2026. Noah Okafor scored the only goal in the 79th minute, two minutes after he came on as a substitute, to settle the Premier League Matchday 10 game.

The match kicked off at 12:30 UTC and stayed goalless for most of the afternoon. Leeds, managed by Daniel Farke, had gone into the game 12th in the table on 11 points and without a win in five league matches. Tottenham arrived with a chance to make it four straight wins under head coach Roberto De Zerbi. Neither side found a finish until the closing stages, when Farke changed the game from the bench.

Two substitutes combine for the winner

Okafor and Harry Wilson both came on in the 77th minute. Okafor replaced Lukas Nmecha and Wilson replaced Ao Tanaka. Two minutes later the pair combined for the goal.

The winner came from a throw-in routine. The throw from the left was flicked on to Wilson, who picked out Okafor. Okafor beat Rodrigo Bentancur and finished past goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky from close range. A VAR check for a possible handball by Wilson in the build-up followed, and the goal was allowed to stand. Okafor was booked in the 80th minute, a minute after scoring.

VAR shapes the match before the goal

Two VAR incidents had already shaped the match before the winner. In the opening minutes Leeds were denied a penalty when Tottenham midfielder Mateus Fernandes used his shoulder to play a backpass to Kinsky and the review cleared him. Football London reported the explanation given from Stockley Park, that Fernandes had played the ball with "the very top of the arm as he is leaning, in the green zone".

Late in the first half, Leeds defender Jayden Bogle avoided a red card after a lengthy VAR review of his foul on Mathys Tel. Tel was forced off injured shortly afterwards and was replaced by Dominic Solanke.

What the result means

The result ended Tottenham's three match winning streak under De Zerbi. For Leeds, the win ended a run of five league matches without a victory, based on their position before kickoff. The package for this report carries no post-match table, so no new league position is stated here. What is clear from the final score is the margin: one goal, scored by a substitute, decided a tight game at Elland Road after two long VAR reviews had kept it level for 79 minutes.