Mostafa Mohamed decisive as 10-man Nantes defeat LOSC

LOSC Lille travelled to Stade de la Beaujoire with the intention of bouncing back from elimination in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League against Borussia Dortmund (1-2) last week. Yet it seems the hangover will last a little bit longer, with Bruno Génésio’s men falling to defeat against a Canaris side that went down to ten men in the last quarter of the game. For Nantes it was a vital win which has put them five points ahead of the relegation zone.  


It was the hosts that in fact began the game on the front foot, with youngster Louis Leroux rattling the crossbar with a strike from the middle of the box only ten minutes into the game after some good combination play between Sorba Thomas and Moses Simon. But Les Dogues would finally get themselves into the game when Nantes keeper Anthony Lopes had to pull off a solid save from Haraldsson’s header. It was then Sahraoui’s turn to threaten with Haraldsson once again in the heart of the action, but a solid Nantes defence would see his attempt on goal blocked. Jonathan David then had a great chance to open the scoring before half-time, but his strike was dragged wide after a great one-two played with Haraldsson.

By the break, LOSC had a clear hand on the game. Yet the Canaris wouldn’t give up easily. The warning signs were there for Les Dogues, and Chevalier had to be called into action to parry away Mattis Abline’s cross, when Augusto picked up the the rebound but he couldn’t find the back of the net after Chevalier then collided with a Nantes defender.

Nantes go down to ten men

Les Canaris then managed to hit the bar a second time. Sorba Thomas’s free-kick was sent to the far post and Sow met it with a powerful header sent goal-wards which smashed the crossbar. The hosts then suffered a major setback when Castelletto was sent off for denying LOSC striker Chuba Akpom a goal-scoring opportunity. After initially giving a yellow card, Benoît Millot would upgrade it to a red.

Down to ten men, Nantes had an uphill battle at the Stade de la Beaujoire. LOSC initially hoped to take advantage of their extra man as Nantes had to adjust by bringing on centre-back Nicolas Pallois for Pedro Chirivella. Lopes then had to make yet another impressive save from Bakker’s strike at the back post. And then it was the decisive moment for the hosts. Moses Simon shows Mandi onto his left side, and launches a powerful cross into the box to Mostafa Mohamed. The Egyptian’s header was decisively powered into the back of the net to put the Canaris into a one-goal lead (83’).

THE STAT: A first since 2015

Nantes have won their first Ligue 1 McDonald's match against Lille since 29 September 2015 (1-0 away), ending a run of 18 games without success against LOSC (D5 L13), which was their joint-longest in their history in the top-flight against a same opponent (18 against Paris SG between 2005 and 2018). FCN have also won their first L1 home match against Lille in 20 years (2-0 on 1 May 2004), ending a run of 15 home games without a win against the Dogues in the league (D6 L9).
 

READ MORE: 

>>Internationals: Désiré Doué receives first France senior call-up