La Beaujoire did not succeed in Nantes. Despite an audience still there to give voice, the Canaries experienced another poor performance at home (2-2), and this may give rise to regrets. Faced with a Saint-Étienne in distress after the last slap received in Nice (8-0), Antoine Kombouaré’s men were well on their way to plunging the promoted team even further into crisis.
Seriously injured last season in Lyon, Johann Lepenant lives again in Nantes. Already a scorer last weekend against Angers, the midfielder has once again found great offensive qualities. From the 10th minute, the Frenchman recovered the ball in the Greens area and scored with a left shot. Shortly after the restart, the former Lyon player this time was the decisive passer for Sorba Thomas, author of his first goal with the Nantes colors.
While an almost logical success looms, the goleador of Saint-Étienne in Ligue 2 last season Ibrahim Sissoko comes out of his box (58th), and offers hope to his team by cutting off a good cross from Zuriko with his head Davitashvili. In the 67th minute, this same Sissoko converted his penalty, and put on the hero’s costume of the Greens to win an almost unexpected point in Nantes.
Symbol of Nantes’ frustration, Marcus Coco received a red in the last seconds. With this sharing of points, Nantes is 7th, and Saint-Étienne (17th) comes back to level with the Montpellier play-off.
Reims not worried by Angers
If Saint-Étienne was stunning, the other promoted Angers did not have the same success on its lawn. It’s simple, the step was too high to worry Reims. Managing to snatch a valuable draw at the expense of PSG last weekend, Luka Elsner’s men took the three points against the promoted team (1-3).
Already a scorer against PSG, Keito Nakamura once again shook the net, in the 9th minute after receiving a bright opening from Cédric Kipré, followed by a chest check and a right shot. Junya Ito (25th) was quick to make the break, taking advantage of a ball pushed back by goalkeeper Yahia Fofana.
The Rémois take shelter definitively via Marshall Munetsi who was able to take advantage of a poor dismissal from the Angers goalkeeper to drive home the point (79th). The reduction in Zinedine Ferhat’s score did not change anything in the scenario. With this victory, Reims climbs to a good 4th place, while Angers is still last.
