We needed a much improved Leeds performance for this critical game, but all we got was yet another match with the same problems at both ends of the field. It proved to be a comfortable win for Tottenham Hotspur, though in the end the result wasn’t good enough for them either.

Sam Allardyce had one enforced change to make to the starting eleven due to Bamford’s injury, but there were moans on social media when Cooper was selected to replace him, as we then had six defenders in a match we had to win. If we were going to play three at the back with wing-backs I’d rather have Firpo on the left instead of Struijk, as he is at least better going forward.

Spurs were another team who had been in terrible form recently, but they had improved under Ryan Mason, and unfortunately they also had something to play for, as a win would secure European football for them next season, provided Villa dropped points in their final season. The weather was excellent for this showdown, which is what you get with high pressure.

The crowd was in terrific form before kick-off, but the atmosphere was always going to get a bit toxic if things didn’t go well, and our plans began to unravel as early as the second minute, when Spurs took the lead. Porro got the better of Struijk as he came down their right, and he played the ball inside to Son, who in turn played it on to Harry Kane.

The England striker was never going to miss from there. There was a VAR check for a possible offside, and surely it was our turn to get one of these calls after two very tight decisions against us at West Ham last week. But no. Porro was ruled to have been played onside by one of the studs on Struijk’s boot, and the goal stood.

Straight away there was a chant of ‘Marcello Bielsa’ from the crowd, though ironically we would end up slightly bettering his last result as Leeds boss, which was a 4-0 home defeat by Spurs. But you could also say that under his rigid man-marking system Kane would never have been able to run into so much space unchallenged.

At least we had plenty of time to put things right, and almost immediately a great chance opened up when Rodrigo’s chance found Koch in plenty of space in the box, but he sent his header just wide. He wasn’t really the man you’d want the chance to fall to, and from his position at the near post he had a lot to do to turn and guide the ball towards goal.

For the rest of the first half we worked hard and put Spurs under pressure, but without managing to convert it into clear chances. We had too many players operating away from their natural positions. Rodrigo was struggling to hold the ball up in the Bamford role, and we needed someone other than McKennie as the secondary striker, when he hasn’t come close to scoring in his time at the club.

We had a fierce shot from Forshaw that looked to be on target until a defender got a touch on it, and a few half chances that were well over the bar, but that was about it. There were a few boos as the teams went in at the break, though at least Sam now had the opportunity to gee the team up again and have a bit of a reset.

But if he did say anything inspiring it all went out the window as we began the second half as we started the first, by conceding a goal in the first couple of minutes. This time a defender did get close to Kane, but the Spurs captain flicked the ball over Cooper with a great piece of skill, before setting Porro free on their right. The Spaniard still had a lot to do, but he curled an excellent shot into the far corner from the edge of the area and we were two down.

It was surprising that Sam waited until the hour mark to make the first lot of changes, and when he did Wöber, McKennie and Struijk came off. In their place Rutter finally got his chance, with the other subs being Aaronson and Firpo. There were some groans from the crowd, probably because Gnonto hadn’t come on, but we had removed to of the players on yellow cards. It was the sort of game where you could see one of them becoming red as the result of a desperate challenge.

With a more positive line-up there was a bit more energy on the field and a buzz around the stadium, and this paid dividends in the 68th minute. I was good to see Rutter involved in the move, and he found Jack Harrison, who made space for the shot before drilling the ball into the far corner. Now we only needed another six goals to go in our favour across the three matches affecting the relegation zone.

But the obvious problem with committing players forward is that you leave yourselves vulnerable to a quick break if you lose the ball, and this came to pass only two minutes later as Spurs restored their two-goal advantage. A counter attack saw them with three against two, and when Porro found Kane in space on the Spurs left, the England striker was always likely to curl the ball round Robles into the far corner.

That was the signal for some of the fans to start leaving even with 20 minutes to go, as there was now no realistic chance of Leeds staying up. And the mood of those who remained was getting ugly, with chants of “sell the club and **** off home”. A few minutes later it took about 12 stewards to drag a lone pitch invader off the field, with chants of “he’s more fight than you” directed at the players.

To be fair, I thought the team were still trying to get forward, with Forshaw working hard in midfield, Kristensen doing his best to make up for a lack of ability with plenty of commitment, and Rutter looking up for it, , even racing back to help out the defence when needed. It’s just that moves kept breaking down due to our lack of quality, and as usual there were far too many misplaced passes.

Rutter did well to juggle the ball in the box to create a shooting opportunity, but unfortunately sent his final volley over the bar. As time ran out there was a late scramble in the Spurs box, but Aaronson was denied by a great challenge, and then couldn’t get the ball past Forster from a narrow angle. And Gnonto finally got on in the 88th minute (in place of Harrison) for possibly his final appearance in a Leeds shirt.

But it was another departing late substitute who had the final say, in the shape of Tottenham’s Lucas Moura. Deep into injury time Moura picked up the ball just inside our half and skipped past a couple of challenges to make his way into the area. He had options for the pass to his left and his right, but opted to continue his run to sign off his Spurs career with a wonderful solo goal.

A few minutes later the referee put us out of our misery with the final whistle and our relegation was confirmed. And as it turned out, our final match didn’t matter anyway, because Everton and Leicester both won, so we would have gone down regardless of this result. And it didn’t matter for Spurs either, as Aston Villa’s win meant they miss out on European football next season.

In post-match interview big Sam again blamed the players for individual errors, while hinting that he would be willing to continue in the role if he is asked by whoever is running the club next season. That seems unlikely, as a complete reset of the club from top to bottom is going to happen in the next few months.

This season hasn’t quite undone all Bielsa’s good work, as for the next two seasons we will have the parachute payments, which we didn’t have at the start of 2018/19. So we should be able to attract a decent new head coach and construct a squad that’s capable of getting back up from the Championship. But next season will be absolutely crucial.

Reuters

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