FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa Conference League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Lille v Aston Villa - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France - April 18, 2024 Aston Villa's Emiliano Martinez celebrates saving Lille's Nabil Bentaleb penalty during the penalty shootout REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
(Reuters) - Nabil Bentaleb could not have scripted his comeback any better after the Lille midfielder marked his return to the side following a heart attack last year with a goal in Sunday's 2-0 win at Stade Rennais.
The former Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United player suffered a cardiac arrest on June 18 and there were doubts about the 30-year-old's future in the game.
However, he was given the green light to return to competitive football on Wednesday when the French Football Federation (FFF) cleared him to play after a medical commission met to assess his condition.
The Algeria international scored the opener in the 80th minute - four minutes after coming off the bench - and ran to the Lille bench to celebrate his first Ligue 1 goal for his hometown club with teammates and coaching staff.
"It's worthy of a film," Lille coach Bruno Genesio told reporters. "He deserved it ... it's an incredible, wonderful story.
"Nabil's goal put us on cloud nine, it's hard to describe... that will remain engraved in the history of the club, of this season. And in Nabil's mind, of course."
Lille, fifth in the table, host fourth-placed Monaco on Saturday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
