The match: 0-1
We observed a striking contrast in the final seconds, on the superb goal scored by Kader Bamba (90th + 3) at the Océane stadium this Sunday. A contrast between the extraordinary explosion of joy from the Nantais bench – who thus snatched a nice breath of fresh air (five points ahead of the play-off, Lorient) – and the collapse of their opponents from Le Havre, now fifteenth with only two points ahead of Merlus and 17th, Metz, winner of Lens (2-1) on Friday.
Before this outcome, this crucial match for survival had first logically given rise to a first closed period peppered with numerous technical approximations. Thus, the Normans, very cautious, only appeared threatening once, through Sabbi (warned two minutes before for a collision with Moutoussamy), who escaped Pallois but shot wide (18th).
Barely more enterprising during the first act, the Canaries still had slightly clearer opportunities, on attempts by Abline with the right foot (20th) and Mollet with the left (43rd), thwarted by a vigilant Desmas .
Kombouaré’s coaching finally paid off
Coming back with a little more offensive intentions and trying to increase the intensity after the break, Le Havre finally got a shot on target, coming from Kechta’s left foot and well repelled at the near post by Lafont (61st). André Ayew managed a nice full-axis acceleration but his left shot narrowly escaped the target (79th). Then his recovery was saved by a heroic return from Pallois (86th), who made another decisive defensive gesture, in front of Bayo (89th).
Opposite, in an attempt to see his team weigh more offensively, Antoine Kombouaré had replaced his center forward Mostafa Mohamed, who was too discreet, with Bénie Traoré (66th). In the process, it was again Matthis Abline who had benefited from the biggest opportunity for Nantes so far: on a caviar from Moussa Sissoko, his ball from the right landed at the foot of Desmas’ left post (69th).
And so it was finally another “coaching” from the Nantes coach which paid off, that of replacing Florent Mollet with Kader Bamba (79th)…
The duo: Bamba, the joker and Pallois the rock
…Because the second goal this season from the right winger of the Canaries, little used in L 1 (470 minutes spread over 19 appearances, with only one start) risks weighing very heavily in the fight for maintenance. In addition, successful with a surgical strike at ground level from the right at the end of a dazzling acceleration (on an excellent ball from Chirivella, 90th + 3), it is superb! But for this goal from Kader Bamba (29 years old) to be so decisive and even for it to exist, it took two high-level defensive interventions from a re-inflated rock: Nicolas Pallois (36 years old).
Also most often replacing this season (it was only his seventh start in 18 appearances in 2023-2024 in L1, and the first with Antoine Kombouaré as coach), the central defender indeed managed two remarkable saves, on a recovery from André Ayew (85th) and another from Mohamed Bayo, at close range (89th). And that, too, counts in the Canaries’ fight for survival.
28
Le Havre has 28 points after 28 days. Only one of the last 12 teams to have counted this total or less at this stage in a Ligue 1 with 18 clubs has remained: Strasbourg in 1997/98 (13th at the end of the season). OPTA
2024-04-14 13:02:27
#Ligue #Nantes #snatches #major #success #Havre #Kader #Bamba
