Nantes boss backs Moses Simon in penalty rift with Egyptian star

The Nigeria international was key to helping the Canaries return to winning ways on Sunday

Nantes manager Antoine Kombouare has thrown his support behind Moses Simon following a mini-drama between the Nigerian star and Egyptian forward Mostafa Mohamed during the club’s match at the weekend.

Nantes ended a seven-match streak without a win (six defeats) in all competitions with a convincing 4-1 triumph over Brest at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

But the game did not go as planned for a while, with Fadiga handing Brest an 18th-minute lead and Ludovic Blas missing a penalty for the hosts.

Referee Marc Bollengier, however, gave Nantes a second penalty, and an argument followed about who was to take the kick between Simon and Mohamed.

Simon, who is in his fourth season with Nantes, eventually converted the penalty to even scores for the Canaries. Further goals from Ganago, Mohamed, and Sissoko made it a comfortable afternoon for Nantes.

The awkward drama between Simon and Mohamed, however, did not escape the keen eyes of manager Kombouare.

And the tactician has warned the Egyptian striker against arguing with teammates in the future over who takes penalty kicks.

“I think he (Mohamed) wanted to take the penalty. We will have the occasion to talk about it; it took him out of the game for a while though he had a good start. We felt he was disappointed but we had to keep him in the game,” Kombouare told the post-game press conference.

“This shouldn’t happen again because we can suffer and even lose a game. This kind of attitude is never good, especially in our situation. You must show support and confidence to your teammates. What is more important now is that it didn’t have any grave consequences on the rest of the game.”

Kombouare restated the order of players taking penalty kicks. In case a penalty is awarded, Ludovic Blas remains the club’s number penalty taker, followed by Moses Simon.

In the absence of those two, either Mostafa Mohamed or Ganago can take the kick, depending on who is on the field. Mohamed joined Nantes in July from Galatasaray.

Nantes’s victory over Brest took the Canaries out of the relegation zone, with the club occupying the 14th position in the table with 10 points after 11 games.