Leicester City saw off Stade Rennes by a score of 2-0 at the King Power on Thursday afternoon in their Europa Conference League round of 16 tie.
A first-half strike by Marc Albrighton and a Kelechi Iheanacho goal in second-half injury time gave the Foxes a two-goal cushion to carry into the second leg in one week.
The Leicester City squad fitness merry-go-round continued to spin as Brendan Rodgers found himself without Jamie Vardy (injury) and Wesley Fofana (illness) at his disposal, but with a newly-fit right-back able to return to the starting XI:
Both sides opened the match with some enthusiastic pressing. This made for a very fast pace and neither team had any time on the ball. The quality of the visitors had the better of the opening exchanges with the effervescent Jérémy Doku looking particularly dangerous. The fact that Schmeichel had next to nothing to do was down to poor shooting and good fortune as opposed to brilliant defence.
The poles switched after 20’ and all the play was suddenly in the visitors’ half. The Foxes had their first period of sustained pressure, winning corners and free-kicks in dangerous areas. City aren’t especially good at scoring from those situations, so it’s a good thing that they conjured a goal out of next to nothing right before the half-hour mark.
On a counter, Madders, thought he had lost it, but Tielemans picked up the loose ball. He found Albrighton on the right, who tapped it back to Iheanacho. The Seniorman took one touch and then blasted it past Gomis to double the lead and give Rennes a mountain to climb in the second leg.
The game ended 2-0 in favour of the English team.
