Rennes 2-2 Tottenham: Spurs lose Lucas and Bergwijn to injury

Tottenham lost Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn to injury as they played out a 2-2 draw with Ligue 1 side Rennes in Thursday's opening Europa Conference League match.

Lucas played a big part in Tottenham's opener, which was credited as a Loic Bade own goal, before having to make way following a poor challenge from Flavien Tait.

It was Tait who had earlier equalised for Rennes with a curled finish at an atmospheric Roazhon Park, shortly before Bergwijn was withdrawn with an apparent ankle issue.

Gaetan Laborde completed the turnaround 19 minutes from time, only for substitute Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to quickly hit back and earn Spurs a point in the Group G clash.

Tanguy Ndombele was brought into the Tottenham side for his first appearance under Nuno Espirito Santo and played a huge part in the opening goal with 11 minutes played.

The Frenchman kept the ball in play with a fancy backheeled pass in a swift move that culminated in Lucas' attempted cross hitting Bade's boot and wrong-footing Romain Salin.

Serhou Guirassy then had a shot saved by Pierluigi Gollini but exchanged passes with Tait soon after for his team-mate to curl one into the bottom-right corner for the equaliser.

That ended Rennes' 212-minute wait for a goal and the hosts spurned a big chance to edge in front before half-time when Kamaldeen Sulemana headed wide from close range.

The second half had a disrupted feel to it following a number of fouls, one of which led to Lucas' injury, with the Spurs attacker unable to run off the damage.

That all changed when Laborde converted a rebound after Gollini pushed Sulemana's shot into his path, but it took Nuno's side just five minutes to respond through Hojbjerg's poked finish from close range to ensure the points were shared.

What does it mean? Injury problems mount for Spurs

The Europa Conference League may not be the highest-profile of competitions, but it does at least provide Spurs with a realistic chance of ending their 13-year wait for silverware.

This trip to Rennes – a side that finished sixth in Ligue 1 last season – is the toughest of Spurs' fixtures on paper and a draw is by no means a bad result, leaving them two points behind Vitesse in Group G following the Dutch side's 2-0 win at Mura.

But losing two more key attacking players to injury, with Son Heung-min already on the sidelines, will give Nuno a massive headache ahead of Sunday's clash with Chelsea.

Tanguy takes his chance

Ndombele looked to be completely out of the picture after asking to leave Tottenham during the close season, but he was named in a matchday squad for the first time last weekend and was handed a first start of 2021-22 on Thursday.

The former Lyon midfielder showed his quality in the build-up to Tottenham's breakthrough goal and his expected goals return of 0.20 was the highest of any Spurs player on the day.

Kane struggles again

Harry Kane has attempted just two shots in three league appearances for Spurs this term without scoring, while he went 90 minutes without so much as touching the ball in the opposition box against Crystal Palace last week.

He was a surprise starter against Rennes and, while he did manage one shot on target during his 54 minutes on the field, this was another off day for the England international.

What's next?

Rennes return to Ligue 1 action with a trip to Marseille on Sunday, the same day that injury-hit Tottenham host London rivals Chelsea in a huge Premier League clash.