Monaco held by Nantes in Ligue 1 despite comeback

PARIS: Monaco missed the chance to move level on points with second-placed Marseille in Ligue 1 as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Nantes on Friday despite a second-half comeback.

Adi Huetter´s side remain in third place, nine points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain who host Saint-Etienne on Sunday.

Monaco held onto the third and final automatic Champions League spot as fourth-placed Lille later stumbled to a 0-0 draw at 10-man Auxerre.

“I´m not satisfied with the result. We respect Nantes but we wanted to win the match tonight,” Huetter said.

“We played too slowly in the first half, we lacked cutting edge.”

The in-form Matthis Abline gave Nantes an early lead as he swept home his fourth goal in three games in the 12th minute after Douglas Augusto cleverly stepped over Sorba Thomas´ low cross.

The hosts doubled their advantage shortly after half-time when Kelvin Amian brilliantly turned in another excellent cross by Welshman Thomas. But Monaco wasted little time in halving the deficit, as Switzerland striker Breel Embolo turned and fired into the roof of the net.

Former Southampton centre-back Mohammed Salisu levelled for the principality club on the hour mark, heading in his first Ligue 1 goal.

In a dramatic finale which somehow failed to produce a winner, Embolo saw a close-range effort cleared off the line and Nantes winger Moses Simon crashed a curling shot against the post.

Lille had an opportunity to jump above Monaco in the table, but failed to make a man advantage count after Auxerre defender Paul Joly was dismissed before the hour mark.

Bruno Genesio´s side´s best chance to break the deadlock came from the resulting penalty, but Ligue 1 leading scorer Jonathan David saw his spot-kick saved by home goalkeeper Theo De Percin.