March 11, (THEWILL) – With goals from Marc Albrighton and Kelechi Iheanacho, Leicester took control of their Europa Conference League last 16 encounter against Rennes, winning 2-0 in the first leg.
The visitors, whose previous visit to England this season was cut short because of a COVID-19 outbreak at Tottenham Hotspur, were the ones to get out of the blocks first. With the game only four minutes old, Gatan Laborde swivelled in the penalty area and turned Adrien Truffert’s cross inches wide.
Although they were indebted to Benjamin Bourigeaud when the winger was caught in two minds inside the danger area after the crafty Jeremy Doku went by three Leicester challenges, a previously frugal Leicester defence has tightened up in recent weeks.
On 29 minutes, Marc Albrighton blasted home to give the Foxes the lead for the evening. Harvey Barnes, who had been on the periphery up until that time, intercepted a Caglar Soyuncu ball and sped past Hamari Traore at the byline. Albrighton sprinted in to unleash a tremendous attempt into the roof of the net after his cut-back trickled to the edge of the penalty area.
Rennes had a chance to tie the game on the stroke of halftime, but Jonas Martin blasted over from inside the penalty area.
Doku then reminded Leicester of his threat minutes into the second half with a superb lay up across goal, only for those around the penalty area in Rennes colours to be caught ball-watching and the opportunity was lost.
In the 55th minute, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall forced Rennes goalkeeper Alfred Gomis into action by collecting an Albrighton cross from the right hand, executing a perfect half-turn, only to fail to put enough power in the subsequent effort for goal.
However, with Barnes’ searing pace, the Foxes remained a significant danger on the counter-attack. On 67 minutes, the winger set up Dewsbury-Hall, but the midfielder could not get his feet right before hitting his shot into a mass of bodies.
With 18 minutes remaining, Rennes produced their best move of the game. The Ligue 1 side cut Leicester open in the centre before releasing Martin Terrier in behind, but Kasper Schmeichel was up to the task down low.
As the French team battled for a goal to carry into the second leg next week, Leicester struck the decisive blow when Super Eagles’ Iheanacho curled home in stoppage time to extend the Foxes’ lead and give Brendan Rodgers’ charges an extra edge going into the reverse fixture.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
