The team selection had one top quality surprise, Wesley Fofana was back in action and what a vitamine injection it was. Caglar Soyuncu missed the game and Brendan Rodgers made a bold decision to play Fofana instead in his absence.
No start for James Maddison either as his fitness might be a question and good to see Kelechi Iheanacho also getting a chance to start as his presence deserves that.
Leicester had a 2-0 advantage from the first game at home, but Rennes are in great form and came from a 4-2 away win vs. Lyon in the weekend so as we expected it would be a difficult game.
Rennes were 1-0 up after only 8th minutes and the situation looked grim. But in some way Kasper Schmeichel managed to make a number of quality saves and after a difficult start it was possible for Leicester to regroup and also start their offensive of some sort.
Leicester kept their momentum and coming out 2nd half it was a fantastic feeling to see Wesley Fofana converting from a corner kick in the 51st minute. His goal was so important and to see him back was lovely.
Leicester never stopped battling, but we all know that this team does lack a bit of quality with Vardy, Evans and also Maddison not in the team. There is something about the balance and the midfield area does not really work as well as we would have liked it to do.
Embed from Getty ImagesWilfred Ndidi had to leave the field after an hour and to see him being replaced with James Maddison made this again a strange move from Brendan Rodgers. James Maddison cannot replace Wilfred Ndidi and the shuffle in the midfield made Leicester even more vulnerable.
Despite hard effort to keep Rennes out of the Leicester penalty box another ball went in behind Kasper Schmeichel in the 75th minute and it all became chaotic towards the end.
Jannik Westergaard and Ricardo Pereira both came on and as we did see Ademola Lookman replacing Marc Albrighton early in the game made it a bit comical when he was the one also going off late 2nd half to try a result to the table.
Embed from Getty ImagesLeicester never lost their battling will and great effort from Jannik Vestergaard who had taken Fofana’s place, when a couple of his headers, became important, clearing the penalty area and keeping the result as it was until the very end.
Leicester kept a battling attitude and it was fantastic to see the final whistle blow and to understand that yet another quarter final in Europe had been reached.
Will be exciting to see what team that comes out of the hat, but to get this win over Rennes might have been a crucial one as they were a quality top side in this competition.
- Positives
- Kasper Schmeichel again doing a heroic job in goal
- Wesley Fofana is back and what an important goal he scored
- Ademola Lookman for his attitude and sportsmanship
- Negatives:
- A bit of chaos defensively and in midfield
- No real offensive plan as the team looks unsettled
- Wilfred Ndidi not really able to keep momentum, we need him back to his best
- Yellow cards to Dewsbury-Hall and Iheanacho
Player Ratings: Schmeichel 7, Justin 6, Amartey 6, Fofana 8, Thomas 5, Ndidi 5, Tielemans 6, Dewsbury-Hall 5, Iheanacho 4, Barnes 6, Albrighton Subs: Lookman 6, Pereira, Maddison, Vestergaard
Embed from Getty Images- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Wesley Fofana
Match Stats (H/A):
- Possession: 68 / 32
- Corners: 6 / 7
- Shots on target: 3 / 4
- Fouls: 13 / 10
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