Tottenham lose players, drop points vs Rennes in Conference League 2-2

Besides the injuries, Tottenham also lost the lead

Buried behind the lead story of the potential loss of two more attackers to injury was the fact that again Tottenham lost a lead. The Spurs looked good in what was some kind of hybrid 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 for the first 10 minutes or so of the match.

The team was not preseason dynamic but they were in control of the match. Following a nice backheel from Tanguy Ndombele – to keep the ball in play – and a swift touch from Kane following a pass from Oliver Skipp, Lucas Moura was in on the right.

As Lucas attacked the defense retreated and the Brazilian did what he should, kept taking the space.  As Lucas got near the box he set himself up and hit a shot that seemed destined for the chest of Romain Salin. However on the way to being stopped the ball deflected off of Loic Bade and went into the goal for a 0-1 Spurs lead less than a quarter-hour into the game.

Energy not the same after the first goal

After taking the lead, Tottenham did not have the same energy or cohesion across the team. After about 10 minutes of Rennes being in control, they managed to tie the game as Pierluigi Gollini was seemingly unsighted and not one player ran to close our Flavien Tait. From there.

From level, Tottenham had their moments but it was mostly Rennes in control. After Emerson Royal and Dane Scarlett came on for Kane and Moura, the formation struggled, and eventually, Rennes took the lead.

On the goal the Reindeer were able to get to the end line and create service far too easily, then Gollini failed to capture the ball and his deflection fell right to Gaetan Laborde who beat Ben Davies to the ball.

Tottenham got a good bounce and the right player was there

Fortunately, Tottenham did not go home completely empty-handed and did not lose all three points. Only a few minutes after Rennes took the lead, Tottenham was attacking. It was Emerson Royal in a hybrid midfield wing role at that point pushing forward and played in Matt Doherty.

Doherty’s cross then deflected up into the air like a little chip, creating a scramble for the suddenly dangerous ball. It was fortunate for Tottenham that Pierre Hojbjerg was up in attack as his awareness and an incredibly deft left-footed touch beat all the Reindeer to the ball and let the Spurs leave with a point in a very hostile environment after losing both the lead and two more starters.

As the Dane ran down the pitch holding his finger up to this month hushing the crowd the story of the Tottenham’s Viking continued to grow. The resilience to come back and draw and get something out of the day was big. Frankly finding a bunch of resilience will be important as the matches will keep coming and the injuries are what they are. On days like that, you kind of feel lucky to take the point and move on.