Facing AS Saint-Étienne in a match at the bottom of the table and crucial in the race for maintenance, FC Nantes was satisfied with a draw (1-1), although after having been in front at score for much of the match.
With this result, status quo for the two teams in Ligue 1 since AS Saint-Étienne and FC Nantes still have the same number of points, 17. ASSE is behind FC Nantes which has a better goal difference than the Stéphanois. In this race for maintenance, Montpellier relaunched this Friday by beating Monaco (2-1) while Angers distanced itself with its victory against Auxerre (2-0).
Asked about this fight to stay in the elite as well as the Montpellier victory, Antoine Kombouare explains that the championship is still long. The Nantes coach now wants to improve this point from the draw obtained away, at Saint-Étienne, with a “big victory“against the sworn enemy of the Greens, Olympique Lyonnais:”Montpellier’s victory? Yes, but what does that change for us? It was you who buried them. I always said it wasn't over. We have just started the return matches so there are still 16 matches behind this one. There are still 48 points to be distributed until the end of the season. It's huge. Of course we would have preferred to win against Saint-Étienne but even if we had lost that match, Saint-Étienne would not have been maintained and we would not have been buried. Montpellier will never give up, no team will give up, neither will we. The championship is long, there are still 16 matches so you have to stay calm, keep working. Today we took a point and we must validate this point taken away with a big victory next weekend against Lyon, the sworn enemy of ASSE (smile).”
