BEVERLY HILLS, March 15, (THEWILL) – In a brilliant weekend for Nigerian forwards that saw Kelechi Iheanacho help his English Premier League club Leicester City put five past a hapless Sheffield United with his hattrick on Sunday, there was an even more astounding feat for another Nigerian, Moses Simon, in the French domestic football of Ligue 1.
In a David versus Goliath fixture between French giants defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, who had only last week booked their place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League competition and Nantes FC, who are desperate for points at the opposite end of the table, the pundits did not give the visitors a chance in hell at the Parc des Princes.
If antecedents, form and quality on paper were anything to go by, it was supposed to be a slam, dunk game for Les Parisiens being the superior side, which ended Spanish giants Barcelona’s run in the UCL over two legs. In the 18 matches Ligue 1 PSG had played against Nantes, the champions had claimed victory in 17. Nantes succeeded in grabbing a win for the first and only time in April 2019.
Coming into the match, Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG were unbeaten in four games, thanks to their draw with Barcelona in midweek. Confidence was high in Pochettino camp after they safely booked their place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite competition.
Against Nantes, PSG were aiming to reclaim top spot with the three points on offer especially after League leaders Lille dropped points after playing out a goalless draw with Monaco earlier on Sunday. Pochettino brought in a raft of players to get them a result including Angel Di Maria, who had recently extended his contract at the Paris outfit, but missed the draw against Barca in Paris.
Although, Nantes were unbeaten in three consecutive away games in Ligue 1, they struggled against the control Les Parisiens had established on the game in the first half. Alban Lafont, the man in between the sticks for Nantes and inarguably the Man-of-the-Match, was earning his pay, repelling attack after attack on the Nantes goalpost. This was one of the reasons why it took PSG three minutes from the interval to break the deadlock.
There was not much Nantes’ resistance could do about the opener as Julian Draxler fired the home side into the lead. They may blame themselves for not clearing out the danger from their area immediately which allowed the German pounce on the edge of the box and curl a shot that he placed perfectly beyond a helpless Lafont.
Nigeria international Simon, who had had an impressive showing in the advanced line of Nantes attack received a yellow card for a challenge from behind on Di Maria, which left the midfielder needing treatment on the pitch at the stroke of half time.
In his last game for Antoine Kombouare’s charges against Reims, Simon netted the opener but the team could not hold on to her lead and lost at their Stade de la Beaujoire. For his performance, the Super Eagles player was handed his 19th league start of the season against PSG to end their three-game winless run.
Just as PSG introduced Mauro Icardi to lead the attack line for PSG, which meant a change of roles in that Di Maria dropped into the middle for Draxler and Mbappe to play on either side of Icardi, the visitors scored the leveller out of the blues.
It came through PSG’s messiah against Barcelona in the UCL, Mbappe. The striker dropped deep to help out his team-mates and ended up costing them a goal by gifting Nantes possession, with his misplaced pass, which Randal Muani gratefully accepted. The Nantes striker then moved onto his right foot and fired past Navas to level proceedings.
Pochettino responded with a tactical move. He introduced Leandro Paredes by taking off Di Maria while Mbappe appeared desperate to make amends for his error as the clock closed down. But, the ascendancy was on Nantes’ side as they began playing with renewed confidence, seeing the possibility of a point’s gain.
Then, Simon’s moment came in the 71st minute when he fired Nantes into an unlikely lead against the run of play, in an incredible counter-attack that caught PSG sleeping at the back. The Nantes goalscorer Muani received a long ball in front and raced through on goal and displayed selflessness by teeing up Simon, who could not miss from inside the completed the move.
It demonstrated great vision from Muani. The striker could easily have gone for a brace against the giants of Paris. Instead, he went for club glory and decided to put his team first and Simon did not disappoint for a second in as many matches for Nantes.
PSG threw everything and the kitchen sink at them in their determination to rescue the points to keep pace with Lille at the top of the table. Lafont was their saviour preventing PSG from an equaliser.
In the 81st minute, the Nigerian’s game was over as Simon was replaced by French winger Kader Bamba. The victory moves Nantes up into the qualification area just above the red zone of relegation. They have only managed 27 points from 29 outings so far this season. In that time, Simon has scored four goals and provided one assist in his 24 league appearances for Kombouare’s men.
Nigerians celebrating with Simon can expect that the forward will display similar form in the green-white-green of Nigeria to continue his impressive performances when he joins his teammates in the Gernot Rohr’s Super Eagles squad for the pair of AFCON Qualifiers later this month as he made the first team. Since his 2015 debut, the player has won 30 caps for the country.
Before then, his club is billed to face the side just above them in 17th Lorient in their next league game on March 21 at home. Simon, who has been with Nantes since the summer of 2019, initially on loan before the deal was made permanent in 2020, will hope to continue his splendid form in front of goal for his side to keep their climb out of the danger at the bottom and into safety in Ligue 1.
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