UECL : Ndidi goes off injured in Leicester's 2-1 loss to Rennes; Iheanacho, Lookman also in action

Published: March 17, 2022

Nigeria's quest to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World in Qatar may have taken a big knock following a leg injury copped by dependable defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi in Leicester City's 2-1 defeat to Rennes in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Conference League on Thursday night at the Roazhon Park.

Leicester City lost by the odd goal on the night but won 3-2 on aggregate to reach the quarterfinals stage having won 2-0 in the first leg.

Ndidi started in midfield for the Foxes while Kelechi Iheanacho continued to lead the attack in the absence of the injured Jamie Vardy.

However the former was replaced in the 60th minute by James Maddison after a clash of legs with Rennes striker
Gaëtan Laborde.

Benjamin Bourigeaud had put Rennes ahead in the 8th minute of the game in front of the partisan crowd.

New Super Eagles invitee Ademola Lookman came off the bench in the 12th minute to replace the injured Marc Albrighton.

Leicester City equalised six minutes into the second half when Wesley Fofana aimed for the ball from a corner kick which Ndidi also went for and nodded it beyond Dogan Alemdar in goal for the French opponents.

Flavien Tait restored Rennes' one-goal advantage with a low angled shot into the bottom corner on 76 minutes

Lookman was then substituted by Ricardo Perreira with 12 minutes left on the clock.

Rennes had two late penalty calls overlooked by the referee when first Jannik Vestergaard inadvertently handled the ball inside the Leicester penalty box and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also handled the ball albeit the latter looked absolutely accidental.

Izuchukwu Michael

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