The duel promised to be tight, it was. Nantes qualified on penalties (4-2, 2-2 at the end of regulation time) against Monaco in the semi-final of the Coupe de France, Wednesday March 2, at the Beaujoire stadium. The Canaries will meet Nice in the final on May 8 at the Stade de France.
The semi-final opposed ambitious and revengeful Monegasques, but not successful in Ligue 1, to Nantes on the brink of the abyss last year but now 7and of the championship and recent winners of PSG.
Rémy Descamps, Nantes’ goalkeeper number 2, designated for the Coupe de France, distinguished himself by stopping Wissam Ben Yedder’s first shot on goal.
However, it was the Monegasques who quickly took the lead thanks to a superb header from the back of Guillermo Maripan on a free kick from Caio Henrique (0-1, 12and). But Nantes equalized thanks to an own goal from Monegasque defender Djibril Sidibé (1-1, 21and).
Then, following a moment of confusion in the Monegasque surface, Samuel Moutoussamy emerged to give his team the advantage (2-1, 74and), putting the stadium in a trance.
But Myron Boadu, barely entering the game and forgotten in the Nantes area, immediately equalized with a header (2-2, 76and).
The Beaujoire stadium in turmoil
If the two teams continued to press, they could not decide between themselves, as in their two confrontations this season in Ligue 1 – 1-1 in Monaco in August 2021 and 0-0 in Nantes in January. Each time, Monaco had dominated and Nantes, resisted well.
Three times titled (1979, 1999 and 2000), the Yellow and Green will return to the Stade de France for the first time since their defeat against Sochaux in the Coupe de la Ligue final in 2004.
After the final whistle, thousands of Nantes supporters invaded the pitch. In a good-natured atmosphere, they rushed to the players to congratulate them by dancing and singing ” We’re in the final “. Quickly, the stewards created a separate space for the players at the entrance to the changing rooms.
After a few minutes, the announcer asked the supporters to return to their stands to leave in peace, “paying particular attention to children”.
The announcer had already intervened during the match, when a smoke bomb launched from the stands had landed in front of the goal of the Nantes goalkeeper, Rémy Descamps. The referee, Benoît Bastien, had gone to the edge of the field to speak with officials and the stadium announcer had warned that in the event of another throw, the match would be definitively stopped.
