Nantes offered itself Thursday, February 10 a place for the semi-finals of the Coupe de France by beating Bastia 2-0, after a rather lackluster match. They will play against AS Monaco on March 2.
Apathetic for a good part of the match, despite the enthusiastic support of nearly 25,000 spectators, the Canaries were able to count as often on goals from Ludovic Blas and Randal Kolo Muani, but also on the clumsiness of the Bastia attackers and the vigilance of their goalkeeper Remy Descamps.
Trained for a full year by Antoine Kombouaré, who put them back on track after the strange parenthesis Raymond Domenech, the Nantes are now well established in the middle of the L1 table and are only one match away from the Stade de France. They immediately took an option on this match: jostled at the entrance to the surface, Kolo Muani obtained a penalty after forty seconds, which Blas undertook to transform with an unstoppable strike under the crossbar ( 1-0, 3and).
Nantes retreat in defense
But the Canaries then quickly retreated in defense, no longer creating play and putting themselves in danger at the back with a series of approximate passes. Much more enterprising and supported by nearly 400 supporters who arrived on two charter flights, the Bastiais failed to take advantage of a succession of opportunities.
For lack of inspiration in the last gesture, but also because of the Nantes goalkeeper Descamps, who intervened against Benjamin Santelli (9and38and43and) and Julien Le Cardinal (16and), before seeing his right post repel a shot from Christophe Vincent (27and).
In the second half, Nantes began to hold the ball and approach the Bastia goal, thanks in particular to several breakthroughs from Moses Simon. And they finally took cover when Bastia goalkeeper Johny Placide pushed back a cross from Blas on a Kolo Muani forgotten in the area and who had plenty of time to arm his shot (2-0, 71and).
For Bastia, who dreamed of a new semi-final thirty years after the tragedy of Furiani (nineteen dead and more than 2,300 injured), it is a hard return to reality of the fight to maintain L2 ( 17and).
