Nantes mount brilliant comeback against Monaco to move clear of relegation zone
Also unbeaten in their last away eight Ligue 1 matches on the road, in a run stretching back to October 2022, Champions League spot-chasing Monaco were ahead in the 21st minute after starting assertively in the Loire region, as defender Caio Henrique unleashed a fearsome collector's item into the roof of the net. Still visibly hungover from Wednesday’s exhilarating Coupe de France semi-final victory over Lyon, Nantes struggled to play with any real cohesion or rhythm, and struggled to craft any real chances against their visitors in response.
Having been schooled by the Monégasque outfit for vast swathes of the opening half-hour, Nantes found themselves with a mountain to climb nine minutes after going behind, as Alban Lafont’s rash decision to come for Henrique’s corner empathetically backfired. The ball fortuitously struck the leg of Eliot Matazo before rolling over the line, giving the near-oblivious Belgian midfielder only his second-ever Ligue 1 strike, and a first since May 2021.
However, Nantes manager Antoine Kombouaré’s decision to introduce striker Mostafa Mohamed into the fray turned the previously one-sided contest back into a competitive affair within just six minutes, as the on-loan Galatasaray striker rose magnificently to head Blas’ delivery past Alexander Nübel. After Wissam Ben Yedder saw an effort cleared off the line at one end, Blas then turned goalscorer at the other, as he clinically headed in Quentin Merlin’s pin-point cross at the back post.
Unbelievably, it appeared that Nantes had gone on to win it with five minutes to go, but VAR intervened to rule out Mohamed’s goal due to the most fractional of offsides in the build-up. A sensational comeback lifts Nantes five points clear of the Ligue 1 trapdoor, while Monaco's meltdown leaves Philippe Clement’s side two points behind Marseille, with their nearest rivals for a podium finish still to play away at Lorient later this evening.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ludovic Blas (Nantes)