Atlantic Derby ends in a draw [1-1]

With the sun shining down, Nicolas De Préville kicked things off for the Girondins. Bordeaux dominated the first 5 minutes, moving the ball in midfield around without leaving themselves exposed. François Kamano linked up with Théo Pellenard on the left, but ran up against the Nantes' defence. Adrien Thomasson floated in the first cross of the game in the  6th minute, but the defence had it covered. Lucas Lima tried his luck twice for the Canaries, but failed to trouble Benoît Costil.  The Girondins soon bounced back, with François Kamano picking out Nicolas De Préville. NDP went for the one-two, but his pass was intercepted. Otavio soon retrieved the ball and played a good ball for Malcom on the right. His cross ended up in the hands of the Nantes keeper (13’). The Girondins kept on pushing down the right flank, with Lukas Lerager seeing another cross pushed behind for a corner. Which came to nothing (14’). Two minutes later, Otávio tried his luck from outside the box and skimmed the ball just over the crossbar of Nantes keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu (16’).  In the 18th minute, referee Karim Abed showed the first yellow card of the game to Nantes midfielder Rene Khrin for an elbow on Younousse Sankharé. The Girondins kept looking to push down the wings. Connecting with a cross from Igor Lewczuk, Lukas Lerager was held back by Chidozie Awaziem. The referee let play go on (20’). François Kamano twice tried his luck from a distance, resulting in two corners in quick succession. Both easily cleared by Nantes. Théo Pellenard was booked for a rough challenge shortly afterwards. As the game wore on the fouls began to pile up, and the game became scrappy. François Kamano attempted another shot from the edge of the box, but Chidozie Awaziem turned it away. Two minutes later, Lukas Lerager picked out François Kamano with a decent cross but the Guinean forward could not get his head to it (45’). As the first half entered injury time, Nantes broke forward and Thomasson floated in a cross for Léo Dubois. His shot was blocked, but the rebound fell to Nguimbe Nakoulma. 1-0 to Nantes. The Canaries kicked off the second half, but the Girondins were soon back on the attack. Nicolas De Préville shrugged off 4 defenders to deliver a through ball for Malcom, who pulled off a quick stepover before firing the ball past Ciprian Tatarusanu. 1-1. The Girondins tried to keep the momentum going and take the lead, with Malcom again leading the way. He teed up Lukas Lerager in a decent position, but the Dane's shot ended up in the stands. Two minutes later Malcom was at it again, lobbing the defence but running up against Tatarusanu (52’). Nantes looked to hit back on the counter-attack, and Léo Dubois slid a shot just wide of Benoît Costil's goal (54’).  Two minutes later a corner found Rene Krhin unmarked in the middle, but his shot was wide of the mark (56’). Bordeaux counter-attacked, but Malcom's blocked shot led to another fruitless corner (58’). Fatigue was beginning to rear its head, as both sides racked up more fouls. Around the hour mark Jocelyn Gourvennec made his first substitution, bringing on Cafú for François Kamano.  Five minutes later, Valentin Vada came on for Younousse Sankharé.   The game finally began to settle into a decent rhythm as the fouls subsided, and in the 68th minute Nicolas De Préville picked out Malcom yet again. The Brazilian appeared to be pulled down by two defenders, but the referee waved play on. Bordeaux saw two more corners cleared by the visitors, before Adrien Thomasson received the 3rd yellow of the afternoon for a foul on Malcom. Nantes boss Claudio Ranieri soon made his first change, bringing on El Ghanassy for Lucas Lima (73’). A few minutes later, Jocelyn Gourvennec made his final change and sent on Alexandre Mendy for Nicolas De Préville (76’). Malcom had two corners in quick succession, and fired both of them over the bar. Alexandre Mendy had a decent shot in the 78th minute, which Tatarusanu boxed away into the path of Cafú, before scrambling madly to save the follow-up shot. A few minutes later, Cafú found Malcom inside the box. The Brazilian laid off for Alexandre Mendy, but his shot missed the target (81’). Claudio Ranieri made another change, replacing Adrien Thomasson with Jules Iloki. In the 85th minute, Mr. Abed awarded Nantes a free kick just outside the Girondins' box. Bordeaux's defensive wall took care of it. Nantes' third and final change sawr Najib Gandi come on for Valentin Rongier (86’). Jules Iloki picked out Nguilbe Nakoula with a cross in the dying seconds, but Nakoula's header missed the mark. Bordeaux had time for one more push, as Alexandre Mendy's cross in the direction of Malcom ended up, yet again, in the arms of Ciprian Tatarusanu. A hard-fought derby ended with both teams taking a point: BORDEAUX 1-1 NANTES!