Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Tottenham produce stunning climax to escape the jaws of defeat in five-goal thriller at Leicester

Tottenham players celebrate their last-gasp winner against Leicester

Tottenham produced a stunning climax which saw substitute Steven Bergwijn net twice in stoppage time to beat Leicester 3-2.

The Foxes went ahead through Patson Daka but Spurs levelled when Harry Kane struck. James Maddison thought he had won it for his side, but Begwijn’s dramatic brace right at the death miraculously secured the three points for Antonio Conte’s side.

Brendan Rodgers was without the injured Jamie Vardy for his side’s first Premier League match of 2022. Daka started in his place.

Conte, meanwhile, opted for a switch in approach and deployed three central midfielders with Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp either side of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

The home side started on the front foot with Daka nearly getting on the end of a cross to tap home.

But with their first attack the visitors went very close to scoring themselves. Kane twisted in the box to work an opening before his low shot was cleared off the line by Luke Thomas.

The England captain was causing all sorts of problems for the Leicester backline and rattled the crossbar with a close-range header from a corner.

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Lucas Moura then went close, forcing Kasper Schmeichel into a diving save with a shot from outside the box.

Having soaked up the pressure, the Foxes took the lead against the run of play.

Sergio Regulion stopped Ademola Lookman from pulling the trigger in the area, but his interception fell to Daka who converted.

Hugo Lloris was alert to keep the deficit to one when he tipped Maddison’s curling effort wide.

And up the other end Marc Albrighton pulled off another goal line clearance to prevent Hojbjerg’s powerful strike from going in.

Kane adds to Leicester tally

However, Tottenham did find the back of the net soon after. Kane broke away, cut inside Caglar Soyuncu and scored in off the post.

Kane, who has scored more goals against Leicester than any other side, should’ve had another but blazed over after Lucas had played him in.

Conte made a change at the break, taking off Emerson Royal and replacing him with Matt Doherty.

It had an instant impact with the former Wolves man foraying forward and finding Reguilon with a cross, whose shot was deflected over.

And Rodgers immediately responded by substituting Thomas for James Justin, who was making his first appearance in 11 months following his serious knee injury.

Doherty was still able to find space, though, and should’ve hit the target with a first-time effort but missed.

Maddison also could’ve netted with a first-time strike for his side. Lloris saved at the end of a dangerous counter-attack.

The end-to-end nature of the game showed no sign of letting up. Japhet Tanganga was the next to hit the target with a shot from range which Schmeichel couldn’t hold onto.

The Danish goalkeeper was able to collect the next effort from Reguilon, though.

Both managers made their second changes with Winks making way for Giovani Lo Celso and Daka departing for Harvey Barnes.

It was the Leicester sub that made the difference, as Barnes played a one-two with Maddison who found the net with his shot going in off Tanganga.

Schemichel saved once again, this time snuffing out a Doherty attempt, before Begwijn was introduced in place of Reguilon.

Barnes was lively and had a shot blocked after a purposeful run forward.

The five minutes of stoppage time were almost up when Doherty was challenged in the box and the ball broke to Bergwijn who smashed it in.

And then the unthinkable happened in the 97th minute as Kane played the Dutch winger through, and he rounded Schmeichel before finishing from a tight angle.

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Tottenham Hotspur