The opportunity was great. Facing Le Havre, penultimate in Ligue 1 with seven defeats in eight games, Nantes had the opportunity to revive. But they suffered a fourth defeat in a row (0-2), in a match marked by the anger of Canaries supporters. Some of them actually tried to invade the pitch in added time, when the outcome of the game seemed sealed, leading the referee to interrupt the match.
Waiting for a while in front of their benches, the players were taken to the locker rooms. After a 30-minute interruption, the match resumed in an icy atmosphere, with the vast majority of spectators having left the stadium. The remaining three minutes, without interest, confirmed the Le Havre victory and the Nantes slump. With this ninth match in a row without a victory, the Canaries are 16th, with the same number of points as Angers, 17th and beaten to the wire at Auxerre (0-1).
The supporters had announced it before the match, they needed victory or nothing to avoid sinking. Murderous banners against the club, the entire club, came to remind us of this. “From the management to the players, you are just tourists. Welcome to Football Club Med de Nantes,” we could read in the Nantes stands.
Antoine Kombouaré's men were then warned. But in the third minute of play, Josué Casimir came to shower Beaujoire by opening the score after inheriting a ball returned by Alban Lafont. In the 23rd minute, toilet paper and tennis balls thrown behind the cage mixed with the banners from the Loire stand.
On the pitch, the Nantes residents fought back, belatedly. Despite a few opportunities for the Canaries, the Le Havre side are much more dangerous. And the domination of the visitors is felt upon returning from the locker room, when Issa Soumaré, then Steve Ngoura stand out. The latter will double the lead for the HAC in the 74th, his shot deflected by Fabien Centonze going to lodge in Lafont's small net.
Opposite, bad luck added to the misfortune of Nantes when Johann Lepenant hit the post in the 80th. Arthur Desmas did the job in his cages, until added time in the second half. It was then that supporters began to want to enter the field, while others were already singing: “We are going to Ligue 2”.
