Ligue 1: Simon excellent for frustrated Nantes; Moffi stars for ten-man Lorient

The two Nigerian internationals made positive contributions for their French clubs in their matchday 13 ties

Moses Simon had a hand in both goals for Nantes as the Yellow Canaries were held to a 2-2 draw by ten-man Strasbourg at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Sunday.

Simon put in a delicate cross for Kalifa Coulibaly to head into the net after 20 minutes to give the hosts the lead, but Habibou Mouhamadou Diallo struck home Strasbourg’s equaliser shortly before the break.

Simon was again key to Nantes regaining the lead as the Super Eagles winger’s deflected cross found Randal Kolo Muani. And the latter steered a header past the goalkeeper moments after the restart.

And the visitors’ afternoon got worse when Ludovic Ajorque was sent off for a reckless challenge on Fabio.

Still, Strasbourg refused to give up the fight, and Adrien Thomasson equalised with a header in the 68th minute as both teams settled for a share of the spoils.

At the Stade du Moustoir, Terem Moffi impressed, but it was not enough to earn a positive result as ten-man Lorient fell to a 1-2 defeat to Brest.

Moffi’s intelligent play helped Lorient take the lead in the fifth minute as he took the ball forward and directed a low cross into the box for strike partner Adrian Grbic to tap home with his left foot.

But the hosts were reduced to ten men in the 28th minute when midfielder Jerome Hergault was shown a straight red card for a rough foul on Jere Uronen.

Brest seized the initiative afterwards and earned a penalty from a Leo Petrot handball, leaving Romain Faivre to equalise from the spot.

And Steve Mounie netted the winning goal with ten minutes left of regulation time.