Feverish on their arrival in Lille, the Nantes residents pocketed the draw point (1-1) in their duel against LOSC. They were obviously smiling when the final whistle blew.
Despite the tensions that could emanate from the relations between Antoine Kombouaré and the Nantes press, satisfaction was reflected in a multitude of smiles among the Canaries, in the bowels of the Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre Mauroy:
“We showed characterfully welcomed Matthis Abline in the mixed zone, he who allowed his team to equalize (69′) by converting the try from the penalty spot. We knew how to come back. We conceded situations, but it was never very, very frank. We were able to turn our backs and equalize. I don’t think anyone saw us doing anything here and we got a point. We must rely on this match to continue this great year 2025.”
“We weren’t ridiculous”
A few moments later, on DAZN, Antoine Kombouaré even estimated that his men could have done better without certain refereeing decisions: “The idea was to show character and show qualities. We wanted to cause problems for this defense. We conceded a goal at the worst time, just before the break, but we begin the second half with a bang with this goal refused. I still wonder why anywayhe confides. I have watched it several times, but it is Lucas Chevalier who passes to Johann Lepenant who is not in an offside situation at that moment. The goal he scores could have been disallowed because (Jonathan) David, who is offside, hinders Anthony (Lopes). But we were strong, we never gave up. We take a good point away against this great Lille team”he said, between satisfaction and great frustration.
Finally, as he came out of the shower, Johann Lepenant appeared in front of the media: “We weren’t ridiculoushe said in the mixed zone. We had chances, like mine, but I was crushing my shot too much. We conceded this goal before half-time which hurt us a little, but we managed to recover. We score this offside goal, then we continue to push. Lille is a great team, which goes through matches without losing. That means something. This is a real good point. I think the match could have gone either way. We all had chances and the draw was deserved for both teams. Despite everything, we still want to win so we are still disappointed”he concluded in comments relayed by
West France.
