Nantes 1 : 1 Lyonnais - Lyon share points with Nantes

Posted Monday, September 29, 2014 by PA

Lyon maintained their unbeaten run through September but Jordan Veretout's 72nd-minute penalty helped Nantes claim a 1-1 draw at La Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau.

The visitors had beaten Monaco and Lorient, in-between a draw with Paris St Germain, and appeared on course to collect three points on Sunday when Bakary Kone opened the scoring shortly after the interval.

But Kone went from hero to villain as his foul on Georges-Kevin N'Koudou in the area gave Nantes a way back into the match, with Veretout making no mistake from 12 yards out.

Les Gones made a bright start to the game as Steed Malbranque picked out Nabil Fekir, who turned and fired at goal with Remy Riou tipping round the post.

Nantes also went closer as a fluid counter-attack led to Yacine Bammou's low drive being blocked by Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, while Itay Shechter thumped narrowly wide.

At the other end, Jordan Ferri floated a cross into the area, where Alexandre Lacazette rose highest to get a header on target with Riou rebuffing the attempt.

Nantes came closest to breaking the deadlock just before half-time as Yacine Bammou's cross from the edge of the area found Alejandro Bedoya, whose header came back off a post.

It proved a crucial miss as Lyon opened the scoring after 51 minutes when Lacazette's free-kick was headed down and into the net by Kone.

But Kone would undo his good work with a lunge on N'Koudou 18 minutes from time, with Veretout striking powerfully beyond Lopes, who guessed correctly but was unable to keep the effort out.

Lopes did preserve a point for Lyon by saving Chaker Alhadhur's drive from just outside the edge of the area in the closing stages.