Mohammed Kudus promised there was “more to come” after his first goal for Tottenham sealed a battling 2-1 Premier League win against Leeds at Elland Road.
The Ghana forward, signed from West Ham for £55million in July, fired home via a deflection in the second half after Leeds winger Noah Okafor’s close-range finish had cancelled out Mathys Tel’s opener.
Kudus struck his first Spurs goal in his 10th appearance in all competitions and also made his fourth assist in the top-flight this season with an excellent touch for Tel’s thumping finish.
“It feels really good,” Kudus told Spursplay. “Something I’ve been working on for the past month, to score my first (Tottenham) goal and it will open doors for more to come.
“Sometimes it’s not about winning the first ball, it’s the reaction for the second ball and when I went inside, I just thought, ‘shoot in the corner’ and I’m so glad it went in.”
Tottenham became the first team to win at Elland Road in the league since September last year, but were forced to dig deep, showing their battling qualities under Thomas Frank.
Kudus added: “The game was less about tactics, it was about great determination and who wants it more because they were running and fighting for the ball.
“We knew that we had to match their intensity. That’s what the game was about and I think every one of us was on top to get the win.
“I love it, however the opponents want to play, we will definitely match up to that.”
Both sides created plenty of chances. Tel’s first-half header struck the crossbar, while Leeds hit the woodwork before the break through Joe Rodon’s header and substitute Joel Piroe was denied a stoppage-time equaliser by Guglielmo Vicario’s one-handed save.
Leeds’ third league defeat of the season has left them on eight points from seven matches and while boss Daniel Farke acknowledged they must start converting more chances, he was pleased with another competitive display.
He also said his side had had little luck so far and urged his players not to dwell on their disappointment.
“We are a newly-promoted site and if we had won each of the points that we deserve – I would say at least six points more during the season – then we would be talking about being in the top four. But this is not realistic.
“It’s quite normal that sometimes you are unlucky not to win more points.
“If you then think about it and doubt yourself or feel sorry for yourself, this is suddenly when you struggle to deliver performances like this.
“If we keep delivering performances like this, we’ll be fine.”
