The perfect moment appeared to have escaped Leeds United but the perfect result could not.

Sometimes you don't get what you deserve in football and having been various shades of unfortunate in recent weeks, Leeds' job against Tottenham Hotspur was simply to win by any means. A scruffy victory from an own goal would have done it for almost everyone of a Leeds persuasion - particularly going into an international break having waited for victory since mid-September.

But an intoxicating second half offering of sheer bloody-mindedness and good football was too good for the footballing Gods to ignore. Not that there was anything handed to the Whites. They fought for everything they held in their hands when the full-time whistle went on a 1-0 win.

Victory hinged entirely on what happened after the break, because the first half was not a memorable one, barring a pair of VAR checks.

Sean Longstaff, starting his 200th Premier League game, was one of a number of white shirts to stick to Mateus Fernandes every time Spurs tried to play out in the opening moments. Forcing the visitors to go long played into Leeds' strength and in turn earned them possession with which to attack early on.

Gabriel Gudmundsson enjoyed a lot of time on the ball and opportunities to cross. It was his pressure that led to the game's first flashpoint and a possible VAR intervention. Fernandes fell towards the ball with his arm outstretched and while one angle made it seem like he must have handled it, another showed the contact was somewhere between shoulder and sleeve.

Ao Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu both sent early efforts wide, the latter's effort more wayward than his midfield partner's, and there were numerous crosses into the Spurs box that gave Dominic Calvert-Lewin little chance of causing problems. James Justin's from the right was the best of the lot and even that was well dealt with.

The rest of the half was a scrappy, niggly affair. Spurs had a couple of efforts that brought James Trafford into the action with routine stops and they worked out ways to get the ball up the pitch to spend more time in Leeds' half. Mohammed Kudus got himself into the game and caused some problems on the right, without ever really coming close to an opener.

And then VAR had more work to do. Jayden Bogle charged into a challenge with Mathys Tel and accidentally planted his foot right on the back of the attacker's Achilles. Slowed down and in still images the contact looked exactly like the kind of thing they ask referees to look at. But despite taking an age over it, the video team never requested Brooks' presence at the monitor, deeming it nothing more than an unfortunate football incident and play went on. Tel, however, did not. After an aborted attempt to run it off he was replaced by Dominic Solanke. The half never really got going after that, beyond a Lukas Nmecha header that was straight at Antonín Kinský.

When Leeds emerged from the tunnel for the second half, Gudmundsson was not among the white shirts, having felt his hamstring tighten. On came Melvin Bard. And on came Leeds, creating chances that should have seen them take the lead. Instead they initially failed to even work Kinský.

Bard sent in one terrific cross, Bogle another and then Calvert-Lewin's header was blocked by a man in front of goal. When the striker forced the rebound to the back post Nico Elvedi couldn't turn it in. But the best chance of all fell to Tanaka. The Japan midfielder won the ball in his own half to start a flowing move involving Longstaff and Calvert-Lewin. Tanaka arrived to take the striker's pass in on the penalty spot, took a touch and sent the ball over the crossbar.

Rather than lose something with the departure of Gudmundsson, Leeds were benefitting from Bard's duck-to-water adaptation. It wasn't so much a case of him getting up to the speed of the game, but helping to dictate it with tackles and passes. His clever ball down the left was the start of another good move, this one ending with a blocked Ampadu shot. Bard was a fresh headache for the visitors, making good decisions on and off the ball.

Having knocked at the door for the majority of the half Leeds began to throw themselves at it bodily. And it was creaking. Elland Road was on its feet in tribute to season ticket holder Colin Westby, who recently passed away, when Leeds came again. Bard stuck the ball in the air and when it came down in the box Nmecha met it and watched in agony as the post got in the way. The offside flag went up to add insult to injury. It would have been the perfect moment. When it came and went without a goal it was natural to wonder if this would not be Leeds' day.

But there was a persistence that kept Spurs unbalanced. Roberto De Zerbi complained afterwards that his side had not shown their personality, or who or what they are. Leeds did. Winning duels was key but physicality was far from the only area of superiority in the second period. Leeds found passes and space. Played on the front foot. Showed intent. Bard started yet another move, Longstaff controlled in the area, swiveled and shot for goal and only a sublime fingertip touch from Kinský denied the hosts.

Still Leeds kept coming. Winning the ball, moving it with purpose. Then came the substitutes - Harry Wilson and Noah Okafor. It was a sign of intent from the technical area and, given Okafor's recent groin issues, a risk. The reward took less than two minutes to arrive.

Bard celebrated his birthday on Friday and had a gift for Elland Road. Like Ampadu the Frenchman has a decent throw on him, but rather than wait and let the big guns come up from the back, the Frenchman took one quickly. He hurled it towards Calvert-Lewin on the edge of the area, the ball dropped to Wilson and he flicked it back to Okafor. One touch bypassed a defender, the next rifled in the winner. Yes, the goal was technically from a set-piece but Bard seized the initiative. His decision making and aggression summed up Leeds' second half and this was so far from a scruffy winner. It was as pretty as throw-in goals come.

Time moved at a snail's pace after that. There was a brief chance for Calvert-Lewin to add a second, before he opted to keep the ball rather than venture a shot, and Trafford hurled himself through the air to pull off a good, but expected save. Daniel Farke sent on Ilia Gruev and Joe Rodon. Leeds defended stoutly. And time ran out.

Muharemović had enough left in the tank to sprint to the South Stand where he celebrated in the arms of Trafford. Both men played a full part in both the clean sheet and victory, but Elland Road's full-time ovation was for everyone in white. This was a team performance. This was a victory and a clean sheet, in an early kick-off to boot. Perfect enough.