February 19, (THEWILL) – Nantes brought Paris Saint-Germain crashing back to Earth with a 3-1 defeat in Ligue 1 just days after a brilliant Champions League showing against Real Madrid.
PSG, who were ultimately wasteful on the night, struggled to cope with the pace of Nigeria international, Moses Simon, down Nantes’ left flank, especially in the first half. Randal Kolo Muani slotted past Keylor Navas fairly early on because of Simon’s speed on the counter-attack.
Quentin Merlin doubled the lead for the league leaders less than 20 minutes in, hitting a top-corner shot for his maiden goal in senior football.
PSG, on the other hand, remained hopelessly over-exposed, and by the half-hour mark, Navas had to intervene simply to keep them in the game when he produced a crucial save to deny Simon adding his name to have score sheet on a frustrating night for Les Parisiens.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side came up against a goalkeeper in fine form on the other end of the pitch. In the first half, Alban Lafont saved great chances from Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Idrissa Gueye in a man of the match performance.
Shortly before halftime, a red card given to Nantes’ Dennis Appiah was correctly overturned. A handball by Georginio Wijnaldum, whose flailing arm prevented a goal-bound header, necessitated the use of VAR once more. Ludovic Blas took the spot-kick to triple their lead heading into the break.
Neymar pulled one back less than 90 seconds after the restart, thanks to Messi’s fantastic reverse pass. Not long after, Mbappe had a chance to make it 3-2, but, by that time, Lafont had resumed his position as the major point of frustration for the visitors.
After Mbappe was brought down, Neymar should have reduced the deficit from the penalty spot, but he rolled one of the worst spot kicks ever played practically straight at the goalkeeper. Just when PSG appeared to be gaining traction, this appeared to offer Nantes newfound hope.
Mbappe could have had a hat-trick in a comfortable PSG win on another night but saw his latest chance go begging when the ball fell to him in front of goal and he fired high over the bar. Another Lafont save kept out substitute Julian Draxler as there was to be no way back for the league leaders.
After losing 18 of their last 20 league fixtures against PSG, Nantes pulled off a fantastic victory thanks to an all-round team effort, Simon’s pace on the flank, brilliant defending and outstanding goalkeeping, even though they only had 28% possession for the whole game. When they had their chances, they were simply ruthless
Nantes therefore ended PSG’s unbeaten away run with a win that sees them climb five places to fifth in Ligue 1, just three points behind Strasbourg. PSG remain in first place, with a 13-point lead over Marseille. They will be more upset than worried about the outcome, especially after their first-half performance and a return trip to Spain with Real Madrid watching.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
