Tottenham draws, Roma wins in new Europa Conference League

The new Europa Conference League had a sprinkling of stardust Thursday as Harry Kane played in Tottenham's 2-2 draw with Rennes and Jose Mourinho's Roma beat CSKA Sofia in the opening games of the group stage.

The new third-tier European tournament could allow Mourinho to complete a career treble after previously winning the Champions League and Europa League.

In UEFA's second-level Europa League, West Ham beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in its first European game for five years and Leicester drew 2-2 with Napoli.

EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE

Tottenham was second-best for much of the game against Rennes after taking an early lead when Lucas Moura's deflected shot was credited as an own goal by Loic Bade. Rennes hit back with a goal from Flavien Tait and took the lead when Gaetan Laborde scored in the 72nd minute, but Tottenham leveled soon after through Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Roma went a goal down to Bulgarian club CSKA when Irish midfielder Graham Carey scored in the 10th minute but hit back strongly with two goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini and one from Stephan El Sharaawy on the way to a 5-1 win. After CSKA forward Yanic Wildschut was sent off for a second yellow card in the 80th, Roma scored twice more.

Germany's Union Berlin lost 3-1 to Slavia Prague on its European debut after playing the whole second half with 10 men. Gibraltar had its first team in a European group stage as Lincoln Red Imps lost 2-0 at home to Greece's PAOK.

Roma plays Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia later Thursday. Tottenham and Roma are among the favorites to win the new Europa Conference League, which was set up to give clubs from smaller countries more chances to compete.

EUROPA LEAGUE

Victor Osimhen scored twice for Napoli to surge back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Leicester. The English club was heading for a win before Osimhen headed in his second in the 87th minute. Leicester then had to hang on for a point when midfielder Wilfred Ndidi was sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card.

West Ham earned a comfortable 2-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb after Michail Antonio intercepted a backpass for the opening goal and Declan Rice scored in his 150th game for the club. It was Rice's European debut for West Ham, which last played in the 2016-17 Europa League.

Galatasaray beat Lazio 1-0 with a bizarre goal when Lazio defender Manuel Lazzari's attempted clearance shot straight up into the air and goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha fumbled it into his own net as he tried to catch. Real Betis recovered from 2-0 down to beat Celtic 4-3.

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