Nantes 0-0 ASSE: a lesson in courage and solidarity
Down to 10 players on the pitch with more than 75 minutes to play and three changes before half-time, Les Verts leave Nantes with a well-deserved draw, thanks to an incredible Stephane Ruffier and a positive approach to the game.
The players surrounded their captain Stephane Ruffier at the end of the match: the draw (0-0) on Wednesday night in Nantes really felt like a victory.
With only 10 players on the pitch after losing three players through injury at the beginning of the game, Les Verts managed to show tenacity and comradeship and their approach paid off.
Christophe Galtier decided to reorganise his defense in order to rest some of his players. But he soon encountered a significant problem. Indeed, after 10 minutes, he was forced to replace Fabien Lemoine and Florentin Pogba, respectively hurt by Vincent Pajot and Kévin Malcuit (10). The latter hardly had time to make his mark on the pitch as the referee, Amaury Delerue, awarded a penalty in favour of The Canarys and sent the ASSE full back off (16). Double punishment for Stephane Ruffier’s teammates! Luckily the ASSE goalkeeper was on form that night and blocked the penalty taken by Sala.
That was only temporary relief: Loic Perrin left the pitch following a groin injury and Stephane Galtier had to replace him with Oussama Tannane and reorganise the whole team. Bryan Dabo moved to centre back and Kévin Monnet-Paquet to right back. The defense of Monnet-Paquet-Lacroix-Dabo-Pierre-Gabriel had never played together before but showed great determination. They produced a solid defensive display, as Nantes repeatedly attacked.
After the break, Christophe Galtier’s men returned to the pitch with a strong willingness to resist the attacks from Nantes. They followed their coach’s instructions to the letter and even opened the scoring after a corner from Vincent Pajot, but the referee unfairly disallowed it after a not-so-obvious foul in the penalty area (61). In the last half-hour, the Nantes team pushed forward and almost took the lead several times. But just like in the first-half, Stéphane Ruffier was impenetrable and saved against Stiepinski and Dubois. Les Verts’ goalkeeper enabled his team return home with a draw, which was a tremendous result for the team.
Ligue 1
Match Day 6
La Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes
FC Nantes 0-0 ASSE
Referee: M. Delerue Attendance : 18,823 Warnings : Harit (25), Kacaniklic (49),,Walonga (55), Vizcarrondo (78) for FC Nantes Send-off: Malcuit (16) for ASSE FC Nantes : Riou - Vizcarrondo, Alves De Lima, Dubois, Walongwa (then Kwateng ,70) – Kacaniklic (then Thomsen, 75), Harit, Gillet - Sala, Bammou (then Rougier, 60), Stepinski. Coach: René Girard ASSE : Ruffier – Pierre-Gabriel, Perrin (C) (then Tannane, 21), Lacroix, Pogba (then Malcuit ,10) - Dabo, Lemoine (then Pajot, 10), Veretout - Monnet-Paquet, Hamouma, Roux. Coach: Christophe Galtier
