Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 Vitesse: 5 talking points as Antonio Conte era starts with win in crazy encounter | UEFA Europa Conference League 2021-22

Tottenham Hotspur overcame Vitesse in a pulsating 3-2 victory in a Europa Conference League game that saw three players sent off. Heung-min Son, Lucas Moura and an own goal from Jacob Rasmussen gave Spurs a 3-0 lead inside the opening half an hour of the match.

But Rasmussen (again) and Matus Bero scored soon after to cut the deficit to just one goal. Although the second half witnessed little to no goalmouth action, it was riddled with red cards, three in fact. Cristian Romero for Spurs and Danilho Doekhi and Markus Schubert all saw red.

Romero was the first to go off after receiving a second yellow in the 59th minute. Then Doekhi was given his marching orders for pulling down Harry Kane, before goalkeeper Schubert was guilty of a handball outside the area.

In the space of just four minutes, Vitesse were down to nine men with only six odd minutes of normal time left on the clock. With that, all their hopes of a comeback got squished.

Despite the win, Antonio Conte, overseeing his first Spurs game, was given plenty to ponder. On that note, here are the five key talking points from the game:

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#5 Tottenham's lively attacking display undone by defensive frailties

Spurs nearly threw away a three-goal lead.

During the opening 30 minutes, Tottenham were breathing fire. They cut open Vitesse like a knife through butter, and looked likely to score every time they drove forward.

While Kane and Son linked brilliantly up front, the real secret sauce were the full-backs. Emerson and Sergio Reguilon both offered great width from the wide areas.

That worked wonders as Tottenham raced to a 3-0 lead inside the opening half hour of the match. The game was seemingly over as a contest, but Vitesse responded by scoring twice in the space of seven minutes.

Both goals were a result of some poor defensive play from the hosts. Their failure to clear a set-piece resulted in the first before Moura was caught out of possession for Vitesse's second.

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#4 New Tottenham Hotspur manager, same Son

The irrepressible Korean star has now bagged the first goal of Conte, Santo and Mourinho eras.

Son Heung-min was once again at the heart of Tottenham's victory. He got Spurs in front in the 14th minute by slamming home a loose ball off Moura's initial shot.

It marked the first goal of the Conte era as Son continued his trend of scoring first under a new Spurs manager for the third consecutive time. He had opened the Jose Mourinho and Nuno Santo eras at Tottenham too with a strike.

Son just loves to herald a new manager at Spurs. Conte would hope he lasts longer at Tottenham than his two predecessors.

#3 Jacob Rasmussen goes from zero to hero

Rasmussen scored at both ends just four minutes apart.

Vitesse centre-back Jacob Rasmussen witnessed a crazy four-minute spell. That saw him scoring an own goal for Tottenham to netting for Vitesse at the other end to spark a mini-revival.

In a desperate attempt to block Kane's tap-in, the Danish international ended up steering the ball into his own net. He tried to keep the ball out, but couldn't prevent it from crossing the line.

That seemed to virtually end Vitesse's chances in the game. However, moments later, Rasmussen popped up with a strike for the visitors at the other end to reduce their deficit.

In no time, he went from zero to hero. The Dutch side built on that momentum to pull back another, giving the home side some real concerns before the break.

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#2 Second half marred by string of red cards

Three players were sent off in the second half.

If you thought the first half was crazy, wait a moment. The second period, although low on goalmouth action, witnessed three red cards, one for Tottenham and two for Vitesse.

Romero, already i the referee's books, saw a second yellow barely 14 minutes into the restart to receive his marching orders. Conte's first game, which started off brightly, was turning into a nightmare.

However, the visitors then saw two of their own players sent off in a span of four minutes. Defender Doekhi pulled down Kane, committing a balant foul, before goalkeeper Schubert handled the ball outside the area.

So even though there weren't any goals in the second half, it wasn't short on drama.

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#1 Conte has plenty to fix at Tottenham

It's going to be tough.

Conte's time at Spurs couldn't have gone off on a crazier note,, but it ended with a victory at least, which was the primary objective. Yet, it wasn't the most perfect one, and the Italian has plenty of work to do in the coming days.

Firstly, the defence is woeful. Both goals Spurs conceded on the night were clumsy and laughable. Also, the hosts must not be complacent in games, regardless of the opposition.

Against bigger and better sides, it might as well have been 3-3 before full-time. Tottenham must learn to protect their lead and build on that instead of blowing it with their defensive ineptitude.

Then there's the Harry Kane conundrum. The striker, although responsible for two of their goals against Vitesse, didn't find the target, as his poor luck in front of goal continued.

Conte has revived many great players in the past, so there's hope. The way Spurs played in the opening 30 minutes - lively, energetic and vivacious - was impressive as well.

It's still early days, but it's worth keeping an eye on in this ever-evolving saga.