Tottenham 2 Leeds United 2: Beckford nets double for Whites

Not only did Bates's Chelsea once go 25 games unbeaten against their rivals from N17, but they also enjoyed the happy knack of regularly dishing out heavy beatings in north London with the 6-1 drubbing of 1997 still a cause for celebration at Stamford Bridge.

Spurs fans could do little but suffer in silence as, during Bates's 21-year tenure, the Blues lost just five of 41 meetings between the clubs. So when the FA Cup fourth round draw brought his Leeds United to White Hart Lane, it was reasonable to assume that revenge would finally be exacted.

The reality, however, was rather different with United handing their chairman a belated fifth anniversary present by earning a lucrative replay back at Elland Road with a battling display.

Bates was not in the capital, the Leeds chairman choosing to watch the tie back in West Yorkshire. But, in his absence, the club he now calls 'we' proved every bit as comfortable at the home of Spurs as Chelsea were when holding the Indian Sign over their rivals from the capital.

The opening 20 minutes apart when Harry Redknapp's side laid siege to the visitors goal, United rolled back the years to stun the Champions League hopefuls and earn a deserved replay.

Where many Premier League opponents have come to the Lane to try and stifle their hosts, Leeds instead took the game to Spurs in a similar vein to the manner in which Manchester United were so memorably beaten in the third round.

There were many heroes for United with Casper Ankergren saving an early penalty by Jermain Defoe and Patrick Kisnorbo underlining why he is already the clear favourite to be crowned Player of the Year come May.

United's midfield also ran tirelessly, while Simon Grayson's tweaking of the 4-4-2 formation that had been so successful at Old Trafford proved a masterstroke as Robert Snodgrass, playing behind lone-striker Jermaine Beckford, revelled in the space that came his way due to neither the Spurs defence or midfield knowing whose task it was to mark the Scot.

Harry Redknapp acted just after the hour to try and clamp down on Snodgrass's freedom by bringing Wilson Palacios off the bench but, even then, the Leeds man kept creating problems for the home side.

As crucial as Snodgrass's role was, however, there was one man who shone brighter than any other, Jermaine Beckford.

If sources on Merseyside are to be believed, the United striker has already signed a pre-contract agreement with Everton to move to Goodison Park over the summer.

But any question marks hanging over his commitment to the Leeds cause were blown away in a terrific display.

Beckford, so often the hero for Leeds in the past two-and-a-half years, had perhaps his best performance for the club with his non-stop running and intelligent finding of space making the striker a nightmare to track.

He scored twice and could, thanks to his own clever movement and the clever probing of United's midfield, have had another two against a Spurs defence who before the weekend had not conceded a goal on home soil in 447 minutes.

The 26-year-old shattered that record just one minute short of it reaching the 500 mark when he reacted quickest to Leigh Bromby flicking Robert Snodgrass's corner into the six-yard box.

Heurelho Gomes was then unable to keep out the resulting prod goalwards from Beckford and parity had been restored, Spurs having gone ahead three minutes before the break when Peter Crouch capitalised on the rebound after Niko Kranjcar's initial effort had been blocked.

On chances created in the first half, Leeds could have few complaints about being behind. Not only had Defoe seen his eighth- minute penalty saved by Ankergren, but the Dane had also pushed a dipping volley from the England striker over the crossbar before blocking efforts from Kranjcar and Gareth Bale.

But, once level seven minutes after the restart courtesy of Beckford's 21st goal of the season, United more than matched the home side with a refreshing attack-minded approach leading to the creation of several chances.

Neil Kilkenny went close with a drive, while Snodgrass appeared to be impeded by Palacios as he shaped to shoot following a neat one-two with Bradley Johnson.

As well as Leeds were playing, however, Spurs remained a huge threat and the introduction of Roman Pavlyuchenko, who along with Robbie Keane and Palacios meant Redknapp had been able to bring 40m of talent off the bench, tilted the tie back the home side's way as the Russian finished off a flowing move 15 minutes from time.

United's glorious Cup run seemed to be over only for Michael Dawson to connect with Beckford a fraction of a second before the ball in a frantic finale that had also seen Jonny Howson go close and an earlier penalty appeal turned down.

This time, referee Alan Wiley pointed to the spot and Beckford displayed ice-cool nerves to drill the ball past Gomes and preserve Ken Bates's proud record against Tottenham.

MATCH FOCUS

Hero: Jermaine Beckford

There were several heroes for United at White Hart Lane with Casper Ankergren crucially saving an early penalty, Patrick Kisnorbo being a rock at the back and Robert Snodgrass revelling in the space afforded him by playing between the attack and midfield. But, with all due respect to those worthy claims, Beckford was the standout performer. Showing great intelligence when making runs as the lone frontman, Beckford not only snatched the first equaliser he also showed nerves of steel to score from the spot at the death.

Villain: Jermain Defoe

Had an absolute stinker with the eighth-minute penalty miss setting the tone for an afternoon to forget. The penalty was definitely the low point but he also should have done better on 21 minutes after racing clear, only to allow Jason Crowe to get back and pull off a tackle that Alan Wiley deemed fair.

Key moment:

95th minute: Jermaine Beckford tumbles to the ground under a challenge from Michael Dawson, referee Alan Wiley points to the spot and Leeds have a late, late reprieve. Beckford, despite having proved far from reliable in the past when on penalty-taking duties, steps up and shows tremendous character to fire the ball past Heurelho Gomes and send the visiting fans into raptures.

Ref watch:

Alan Wiley: Not the Staffordshire official's best 90 minutes. He got the first penalty decision correct when awarding Spurs a spotkick after Danny Rose had been fouled by Michael Doyle but then missed a much more blatant offence when Jermain Defoe was fouled by Jason Crowe. If that was not a penalty then Leeds' late spotkick, awarded for a very similar challenge, should never have been awarded. The Premier League referee also booked six Leeds players and just one from Spurs.

Verdict

For the second consecutive round, Leeds played their full part in a rip-roaring FA Cup classic that must have kept the millions watching at home on TV gripped throughout. After weathering heavy early pressure and Casper Ankergren saving a Jermain Defoe penalty, United went on to take the game to their Premier League hosts. Simon Grayson got his tactics spot on with Robert Snodgrass employed just behind lone frontman Jermaine Beckford as Leeds created a host of chances in an end-to-end encounter.

Quote of the day

I have no idea how much it is worth, though the chairman will no doubt have worked it out to the pound.

– Simon Grayson's response to the question of how much Leeds have earned during their FA Cup run.

Next game

Swindon Town v Leeds United; Tomorrow, 7.45pm; League One.

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