Wesley Fofana made a dream return after seven months out injured as his goal helped Leicester City edge past Rennes and move into the c quarter-finals.
Leicester won the first leg 2-0 at the King Power Stadium, but their advantage was halved inside eight minutes when Benjamin Bourigeaud finished from Martin Terrier’s low cross.
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 Atlético 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.
