for the first of Anthony Lopes, FC Nantes will seek a draw in Lille

This Saturday, the 16th day of Ligue 1 continued after ASSE’s great victory on home soil against Reims (3-1). At home, LOSC wanted to kick off the new year with the reception of FC Nantes. After a solid draw gleaned on the OM pitch before the break (1-1), the Mastiffs wanted to confirm their good form. To do this, Bruno Genesio decided to line up his eleven type despite the absences of Zhegrova and Bakker. On the other hand, the Canaries needed points in their quest to maintain. To achieve a good result in the North, Antoine Kombouaré established the flagship recruit of the Nantes winter: Anthony Lopes. All the ingredients were therefore present to witness a great Ligue 1 match.

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However, the pace of the meeting was sluggish in the first minutes and rough contacts were legion. It was one of the latter which ultimately cost Matias Fernandez-Pardo dearly, who was injured in the 7th minute of play and replaced by Osame Sahraoui. The first clear chances took place after a quarter of an hour of observation. After some nice work on the left side, Abline sent a perfect cross towards Johann Lepenant who crossed too far with his low shot (24th). Expected for his first match under his new colors, Anthony Lopes also stood out with a great save to keep his team alive a few minutes later (26th). The former OL goalkeeper ultimately couldn’t do anything when Gabriel Gudmundsson opened the score in two stages after a nice inspiration from Cabella (1-0, 41st). Poorly paid for an interesting FC Nantes but who faced the cold realism of Lille.

FC Nantes could have won in Lille

Eager to quickly get back into the game, Antoine Kombouaré’s men showed great intensity upon their return from the locker room. A state of mind paid off because the Nantes residents quickly equalized thanks to Ignatius Ganago after a superb backheel in the area from Douglas Augusto (48th). Problem: Johann Lepenant was offside at the start of the action. The goal was therefore disallowed and the first warning of the game was sent to the Northerners. And despite great ideas offensively (58th, 60th), Lille clearly did not learn their lesson defensively. Friable, the Mastiffs therefore fell into the trap set by the Nantes attack when Mostafa Mohamed pushed Bafodé Diakité to make a mistake in the area.

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Untenable in this meeting, Matthis Abline, at the start of the action which led to the penalty, did not tremble and took Lucas Chevalier on the wrong foot (1-1, 68th). Faced with the Nantes threat, LOSC took fewer risks to score a new goal in this meeting. Opposite, the visitors were too imprecise to get more than a point. From then on, the draw seemed obvious and was ultimately the final score of a match which was played in alternating current. Interesting, Nantes can congratulate themselves for this point collected at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium but the Canaries had the opportunities to do better. For its part, LOSC did not show its best face. This draw exposes Jonathan David’s teammates to a return of OL to the same number of points even if this point allows them to recover their fourth place in the standings. For its part, Nantes remains fifteenth.