Tottenham continued their patchy form with yet another disappointing result as they drew to Rennes in the Europa Conference League.
Tottenham have now made the best of starts to their UEFA Europa Conference League campaign, a competition they are very serious about winning. After partially struggling in the qualifiers against Pacos de Ferreira, the north London side had to show their ambition during their first group game, which was rather disappointing.
A fortunate, late strike from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg ensured Spurs shared the spoils with Rennes, who increasingly leaned towards a win. The home side gave Tottenham a run for their money, staging a late comeback after going behind early in the game. Rennes defender, Loic Bade scored an own goal to give Spurs the lead, only for midfielder Flavien Tait to equalise.
The game went dragging after that goal, and it was the French side that found the net again halfway through the second period through Gaetan Laborde. Rennes looked like the side likely to score again and were getting closer to collecting all three points. However, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was in the right place to strike a rather fortunate goal to equalise in the 76th minute to settle for a draw.
The performances from Tottenham in recent games have not been up to scratch, and they might find themselves in a difficult position when they face Chelsea at the weekend. Here’s how tje Tottenham stars fared against Rennes in their 2-2 Conference League draw.
Pierluigi Gollini: 5.5/10
Took his opportunity to start a game decently, making a few smart saves. The Italian goalkeeper could not do anything about Rennes’ first goal, but should have done a lot better about their second. Gollini parried away the initial shot rather softly and sent it towards Laborde for a tap-in.
Matt Doherty: 5.5/10
Doherty could not find any relevance in his game until sending the cross for Hojbjerg’s goal. A few forward runs apart, the full-back was not strong enough either in attack or defence. It is clear to see why Emerson Royal could be Tottenham’s first-choice right-back.
Japhet Tanganga: 5.5/10
The red card against Palace seems to have affected Tanganga as he was a little too cautious in his approach. While he was a little sloppy in the first period, Tanganga showed significant improvement in the second half.
Joe Rodon: 7/10
A very good display defensively from Rodon, considering he has only returned from injury. Often found himself on the back foot in light of Rennes’ attack, but the Welshman was terrific at winning duels on the ground and in the air at the back.
Ben Davies: 5/10
Davies was neither an attacking threat nor defensively sound. Floating around at the back, the full-back afforded too much space and let Rennes’ attackers come inside on his side. He needs drastic improvement in his game or may soon find himself becoming a peripheral figure.
Oliver Skipp: 6/10
Barring a few decent moments, Skipp struggled to gain any control of the midfield. In the build-up to the first goal, he was crucial, as he picked out a nice pass for Kane. The midfielder is adapting well to Nuno Espirito Santo’s methods and could become a regular fixture in this side.
Tanguy Ndombele: 8/10
Unfortunately for Ndombele, no other Tottenham player was playing at his level. On his first game back, the Frenchman showed what Nuno has been missing after being a great attacking outlet, creating chances and working hard. Why he was frozen out for all this while remains a tricky question.
Ndombele is on another planet man pic.twitter.com/mRMJCqUsDL
— alfie. (@28NdombeIe) September 16, 2021
Bryan Gil: 6/10
Gil looked like a bright spot on the pitch with his runs but struggled to get a foothold in the game. His talent is clear but needs more time and development before he can influence matches.
Steven Bergwijn: 5/10
Went off injured early in the game, and in the time he was available, Bergwijn was ineffective as Tottenham were getting to grips.
Lucas Moura: 6/10
Moura was a lively presence in the Tottenham attack and instrumental in forcing the opening goal. Went off injured in the second half, which could see him miss the Chelsea game.
Harry Kane: 6/10
Kane got more minutes under his belt as he finds form this season. He created the first goal before Moura forced the own goal, although his teammates failed to provide him with the ammunition to attack.
SUBSTITUTES
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 8/10
Hojbjerg came on in the second half and improved Tottenham’s control over the game. He popped up crucially to slot the goal, taking advantage of Rennes’s rare defensive mistake in the game.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has scored his first ever goal in European competition for Tottenham.
Off the mark. ? pic.twitter.com/jm4162zJKE
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) September 16, 2021
Emerson Royal: 5/10
Emerson came on after Nuno changed the shape a bit. He played as a wing-back, with Doherty sitting deeper. Surely these minutes would help him gain an understanding of the team better.
Dane Scarlett: 5.5/10
Some lively play from Scarlett after he came on. Visibly worked hard and put one header wide.
Dele Alli: N/A
Alli came on late to have any sort of impact.
