FC Nantes stood up to AS Monaco (0-0) on Sunday for the 20th day of Ligue 1. Philippe Clement did not experience an ideal first on the Monegasque bench, losing in particular 3 players (Sidibé, Badiashile and Boadu) on injury.
In addition to the OL-PSG this Sunday evening (8:45 p.m.), the poster between FC Nantes and AS Monaco was one of the most anticipated meetings of the 20th day of Ligue 1. This part at Beaujoire marked the first steps in France of Philippe Clement, successor of Niko Kovac on the bench of the Principality club. The Belgian technician, the 6th in the history of the French championship, is now responsible for restoring momentum to an excessively irregular Monegasque team, while infusing a new dynamic in the game, in particular thanks to his playful and offensive style.
To start well, the ex-coach of Club Bruges, deprived of many elements (Ben Yedder, Disasi, Fofana, Golovin, Diatta, Fabregas) surprised by aligning Henrique in the position of playmaker, in support of Volland. If the first minutes of the Clement era had anything to be encouraging, the Belgian had to be content with a points division against FCN (0-0) after his team put their foot down physically in the second half. Quickly, the visitors took control of the leather, showing themselves to be more enterprising than the men of Antoine Kombouaré, also forced to compose without a multitude of players (Cyprien, Manvelyan, Simon, Castelletto, Coulibaly, Traoré and Gueubbels – loaned by ASM).
Boadu harvest then gets injured
But despite several opportunities in favor of the partners of an omnipresent Chouaméni, through Diop (5th, 12th, 24th), the most dangerous on the ground, or even Jakobs (34th), Monaco did not succeed to take the advantage after the first 45 minutes to their advantage, Nübel having only had to make an intervention against Blas (5th). As if cooled down at half-time, the Monegasques, who lost Sidibé then Badiashile, replaced by Aguilar and Matsima, during the first act, suffered much more when they returned from the locker room. Blas (47th, 51st, 58th) and Chirivella (54th, 57th) were even close to opening the scoring on several occasions.
Philippe Clement’s men were then guilty of too many technical inaccuracies, especially in the transmissions. Boadu, entered the game 25 minutes from the end just like the last winter recruit Vanderson, could nevertheless have put on the savior costume if he had not missed his face-to-face (77th). The Dutchman, also affected, has also left his partners at 10 for the last minutes of the game. In the end, without consequence. This draw, as in the first leg, is rather logical, each team having generally dominated one period each. But that doesn’t help anyone in the standings. Nantes does not chain a 4th success in a row in Ligue 1 and remains one point behind Monaco, which does not improve its victory against Rennes before the truce.
