Nantes’ Antoine Kombouaré after draw against Troyes: “We need to keep fighting.” | OneFootball

There was late drama in Sunday’s Ligue 1 action, as Nantes snatched a last-second 2-2 draw against fellow relegation-battlers Troyes.

After going 2-1 down in injury time, Les Canaris equalised thanks to Evann Guessand, whose goal was initially disallowed for a Mostafa Mohamed handball. However, referee Jérémie Pignard overturned the decision when called to the on-pitch VAR screen. Nantes have fallen down to 16th in the standings, a week before their Coupe de France final against Toulouse. “We have to go and win it and then fight to keep our Ligue 1 status“, Kombouaré said in his post-game press conference that L’Equipe transcribed. “We will have to be strong after the final, but I believe in my squad, I believe in my players.”

The former PSG boss explained that he went through all possible emotions after seeing his side go 1-0 up, then 2-1 down and finally grabbing an unlikely equaliser deep in injury time. “We were unable to win, but we didn’t lose and that’s what matters. We could have lost, so it’s a good point for us.” Kombouaré, though did lament his side’s wastefulness. “We needed a lot of opportunities to score whereas our opponents didn’t. We need to keep fighting and to hold on.“

Despite a Europa League campaign that ended in the playoff round against Juventus and another Coupe de France run to the final, Nantes may very well end up in Ligue 2 next season. They are level with Strasbourg and Brest on 32 points. Nantes will face Les Ty-Zeffs on May 3rd for an high-stakes six-pointer, four days after the Coupe de France final.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval