Like on a cloud. Nothing seemed to be able to resist the strength of the Nantes people, Saturday February 19, in a stadium in La Beaujoire in fusion. Facing the Parisians, the Canaries signed a high-flying performance to crush the leader of the championship (3-1), on the occasion of the 25th day. Carried by an Alban Lafont transformed into a wall and a Ludovic Blas (again) of the big nights, the Nantes residents proved irresistible against Parisians without a solution.
If the scenarios of the matches are never written in advance, that of this Nantes-PSG was in any case unimaginable. Because from the start of the match, Antoine Kombouaré’s players exerted high pressure and imposed a high pace on the Parisians. Facing draft players from the capital, Randal Kolo Muani found the net for Keylor Navas in the fourth minute, on a service from Moses Simon.
After this well-conducted counter-attack, the Parisians fell on an Alban Lafont of the big nights (nine saves) and neither Messi nor Neymar nor even Mbappé could break the Nantes wall in the first period. In the sixteenth minute, Quentin Merlin was given the ball back in front of the area and fired a shot into the opposite corner. Result: his first professional goal gave his side two points against the leader.
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Just before half-time, after examining the VAR, referee Mikaël Lesage returned to a handball from Georginio Wijnaldum in the area to award a penalty to Nantes. Captain Ludovic Blas didn’t flinch and gave the Canaries a three-goal lead at halftime. A first for PSG since August 29, 2010, during a match against Sochaux.
Upon returning from the locker room, Neymar put PSG back in the game. From a solitary number against the Nantes defenders, the Brazilian found the small net of Alban Lafont, who could not do anything. Then everything got carried away, Paris took the game on its own and, in the 59th minute, Mbappé made one of his supersonic races before being mowed down in the area.
Neymar took the penalty after Messi failed in the Champions League against Real Madrid. But the number ten of PSG completely missed, his jerky run of momentum having given birth to a real pass to the goalkeeper … Remained stoic on his line until the last moment, Alban Lafont had read in the game of the Brazilian and just lay down to his left to pluck the ball. After this error, the pace calmed down about ten minutes with possession mostly in favor of Marco Verratti’s teammates.
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Despite several chances, including a missed face to face by Mbappé in the area, the Parisians could not avoid their second defeat of the season. After the intoxication of the victory against Madrid, the Parisians have a hangover.