The two teams shared the points this Friday, in Hérault. PASCAL GUYOT / AFP
Less calm than the MHSC with a view to maintaining, the Canaries took a point at La Mosson this Friday (1-1), at the opening of the 31st day. The match ended at nine against 11 after two Montpellier expulsions.
No winner at La Mosson. Montpellier and Nantes shared the points (1-1) this Friday, during the first match of the 31st day of Ligue 1. 12th in the standings, President Nicollin’s players have a cushion of nine points over the current play-off player, Le Havre (16th), which will play at the Parc des Princes against PSG on Saturday (9 p.m.). Almost assured maintenance. The Canaries are 14th, with four points more than the HAC. This Friday, everything happened in the first 10 minutes, with Adams opening the Montpellier score in the 2nd, before Albine equalized in the 7th. Note that the MHSC finished at 9 after the exclusion of Lucas Mincarelli and Arnaud Nordin.
The two formations had in common that they were particularly dangerous on the counterattacks. The first for Montpellier. On a Nantes free kick, the Héraultais transformed the situation into a quick counterattack. Savanier found Mousa Tamari on the left. At 3 against 2, the Jordanian made a nice pass to the far post for Akor Adams, alone against Lafont, who scored for the first time since October 29, 2023, against Toulouse (1-0, 2nd). Nantes reacted with a recovery in the center of the field. Mostafa Mohamed advanced with the ball before serving Abline whose outside foot deceived Benjamin Lecomte (1-1, 7th).
Subsequently, the Montpellier residents showed themselves to be the most dangerous for 35 minutes. Adams stole the ball from Chotard and struck just above the crossbar (17th) while Sagnan watched his header which grazed the post (33rd). At the end of the first period, the dominance changed sides. Mostafa Mohammed forced Benjamin Lecomte into a horizontal shot with a powerful header (41st) before the goalkeeper distinguished himself again with three shots on target in two minutes (45+1).
Tense end of match
After the break, the Montpellier residents did not exist, as symbolized by Savanier’s shot from 30 meters, the only strike from the locals in the second act (73rd). Marcus Coco could, however, consider himself lucky that his failed restart did not benefit the three Montpellier residents who came to press him (55th). Behind that, only two real chances were to the Canaries’ credit. Florian Mollet first, who tried to take a knee cross (68th) in the area, before Moutoussamy missed a golden opportunity. Thanks to some favorable counterattacks, the Nantes player, who entered in place of Chirivella, found himself 5 meters from Benjamin Lecomte’s cage. His shot took off above the cage (80th).
Before the match, Antoine Kombouaré announced that he would be satisfied with a point on Occitan soil. He finally changed his mind when he saw the domination of his players at the end of the match. With the entries of Traoré and Kadewere, the Nantes residents pushed to obtain victory. In added time, Moutoussamy threw Traoré alone behind the defense. Mincarelli preferred not to let the action take place and received a logical red card (90+1). Four minutes later, while trying to control the ball, Arnaud Nordin pushed his crampons into Cozza’s face. An involuntary but particularly dangerous gesture synonymous with second exclusion (90+4). On a last Nantes free kick, Jeremy Stinat whistled the end of a match which seemed to satisfy both teams (1-1).
