Wesley Fofana made a dream return after seven months out injured as his goal helped Leicester City edge past Rennes and move into the Europa Conference League quarter-finals.

But 21-year-old central defender Fofana, playing for the first time since breaking a leg in a pre-season friendly against Villarreal in August, then glanced in a header from Ademola Lookman’s corner.

The Frenchman ran and hugged boss Brendan Rodgers in emotional scenes, although that was not the last of the goals.

Rennes regained the lead on the night through substitute Flavien Tait’s low strike into the bottom corner in the 75th minute, with the hosts needing one more goal to force extra-time.

They nearly got it, but Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel made a superb save with his legs to deny Serhou Guirassy in the 85th minute.

The Foxes held on to seal a 3-2 aggregate victory to move into the last eight of a European competition for only the second time in their history, after they lost to Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2017.

Rodgers said: “Wesley is an amazing player. That’s what top players do, they come in – he’s only been back in training a few weeks – and they want to go and head it.

“That’s something we’ve really missed a lot of the season. Someone with that mentality – and that’s a top player’s mentality. He’s such a massive prospect.”

The draw for the next round takes place on Friday in Switzerland.

Leicester edge thriller to stay on course for first European trophy

For Leicester, 12th in the Premier League but well adrift of European qualification and well clear of the relegation zone, this competition provides their main source of excitement for the rest of the campaign.

In the past two years they have been pushing for Champions League qualification and finished fifth in successive campaigns before winning the FA Cup for the first time last season.

That took them into the Europa League but, after only finishing third in their group, they dropped into the third-tier Europa Conference League.

After the home win in the first leg, Rodgers warned his players that the tie was not over and they would have to “suffer a little bit” in the second leg in north-west France.

That was certainly the case in a hectic match at a packed and noisy Roazhon Park with the game played in a superb atmosphere.

Rennes, fourth in Ligue 1, made a bright start, scored early on and put the Foxes under pressure, before Fofana’s goal early in the second half looked to have settled the visitors’ nerves.

But Tait’s strike set up a frantic, thrilling finish with Leicester’s defenders throwing their bodies in front of the ball and Baptiste Santamaria shooting wide in the 92nd minute.

Rennes appealed for a penalty deep in injury time after Harvey Barnes headed the ball off Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s arm in the area, but, with video assistant referees not being used in the competition until the final, it was not given, Leicester survived to hang on and advance.

Sourced From BBC