Bentancur the hero as Tottenham recover three times to overcome Leeds in a thriller

Tottenham (1) 4 Kane 26, Davies 51, Bentancur 81, 83

Leeds United (2) 3 Summerville 10, Rodrigo 43, 76

Two goals in two minutes from Rodrigo Bentancur completed a stunning comeback from Spurs, who trailed three times before claiming the spoils in a crazy contest.

It was a perfect pre-World Cup smorgasbord to savour – a game with just about everything. Thrilling goals and a late red card for Tyler Adams of Leeds. But hopefully no injuries to anyone one week ahead of the Qatar jamboree.

It was rough on Leeds, to be fair. Their football was excellent and they scored three beautiful goals. But their Achilles heel has often been in defence and they always looked vulnerable to the quick raids – most of them sparked by man of the match Dejan Kulusevski, who wreaked havoc.

Spurs badly wanted to go into the international break on a high – especially as their defeat to Liverpool last weekend was followed up by an insipid Carabao Cup exit at Nottingham Forest.

And for all their inconsistencies, they only trail Man City by three points, who remain title favourites.

They got off to the worst possible start, though, falling behind after just 10 minutes.

The identity of the Leeds scorer was no surprise though – Crysencio Summerville finishing superbly after flicking a pass from Brenden Aaronson around Eric Dier and then taking a couple of touches to tee up before tucking home past Hugo Lloris.

The 21-year-old recently stunned Liverpool with a winning goal for the Yorkshiremen at Anfield and it was the fourth game in a row that the nimble Dutchman had found the net.

Spurs reacted well to the setback, with Kulusevski looking particularly menacing down the right. He pulled back from the byline for Emerson Royal – only for Illan Meslier to save at his near post.

Emerson skied an even better chance well over after Ben Davies had cut in from the left to expose a retreating Leeds defence. He was in acres of space inside the area and should have done better.

But it did not take too long for England’s great desert hope Harry Kane to get Spurs back on level terms – the striker smashing home a loose ball which came his way after Meslier – under pressure from Clement Lenglet – had flapped at the ball, pawing it out just a few yards to a lurking Kane.

The keeper claimed a foul but ref Michael Salisbury – and VAR – were unmoved.

Leeds regained the advantage just before the interval, with Rodrigo pinging in a fine left-foot-volley after the visitors had won a game of head tennis on the edge of the area - Rasmus Kristensen getting the decisive final nod forward to the lurking Rodrigo, who pounced emphatically.

Within five minutes of the restart, Ben Davies had smashed in from the edge of the area after Kane’s initial effort had been blocked – the chance all down to the slippery skills of Kulusevski on the right.

But Leeds recaptured the lead for a third time when Rodrigo drilled home from an angle for his second goal of the afternoon – Spurs convinced Adams had fouled Rodrigo Bentancur in the build-up.

The home side need not have worried though, as Bentancur was twice on hand to have the final say – blasting home from the edge of the area, then tapping in from close range from a Kulusevski pull-back. It was easily the Uruguayan's best moment in a Spurs shirt so far.

In moments, a semi-mutinous mood had turned to elation and the next four weeks should have Spurs fans dreaming of a memorable second half of the season.

Spurs: (3-4-3) Lloris – Dier, Lenglet (Sanchez 57), Davies – Emerson Royal (Doherty 57), Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Perisic – Kulusevsk (Moura 89), Kane, Richarlison (Bissouma 68). Subs not used: Forster, Skipp, Gil, Spence, Tanganga

Leeds: (4-2-3-1) Meslier – Kristensen (Joseph 89), Koch, Cooper, Struijk – Adams, Roca (Ayling 79) – Gnonto (Greenwood h/t), Aaronson, Summerville – Rodrigo (Geldhardt 89). Subs not used: Robles, Firpo, Llorente, Perkins, Gyabi