Nantes v Nice
Nice drop points in Ligue 1 race in 1-1 draw against Nantes
Mario Balotelli again failed to score away from home as Nice lost more ground in the race for the Ligue 1 title after being held to a 1-1 draw at Nantes on Saturday.
Chasing a first league crown since 1959, the south-coast side dropped points for a second consecutive week after drawing against Caen.
Nice remain third in the standings, four points behind leaders Monaco, who play at Caen on Sunday. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain have a one-point lead over Nice ahead of Sunday's home game against Lyon.
Balotelli, who has 10 league goals to his name, was perfectly contained by the Nantes defence and was never a threat. He was replaced in the 83rd minute by Mickael Le Bihan.
After a lacklustre start to the game with few chances, the hosts broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when Emiliano Sala beat Yoan Cardinale to his left from Jules Iloki's assist.
Nantes could not hold on to their lead for long, though. Midfielder Jean-Michel Seri found the net five minutes later, for the fourth time this season, with a fine strike from the edge of the area into the top-right corner.
Nantes forward Prejuce Nakoulma was the most dangerous player after the interval and came close to putting his team back in front in the 55th minute, but his header hit Cardinale's crossbar.
The powerful Nakoulma, who joined Nantes in February, and scored a brace last weekend in a 3-2 win at Montpellier, then fired a shot just inches wide.
Nakoulma's skills were on display again with 13 minutes left when he found Sala with a deep pass that his teammate could not convert.
With eight games left this season, Nantes are in 10th place, 30 points off the pace.
Game Information
French Ligue 1 Table
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Saint-Germain | 27 | 20 | 3 | 4 | +38 | 63 |
| Lens | 29 | 20 | 2 | 7 | +28 | 62 |
| Lille | 29 | 16 | 5 | 8 | +15 | 53 |
| Marseille | 29 | 16 | 4 | 9 | +20 | 52 |
| Lyon | 29 | 15 | 6 | 8 | +14 | 51 |
| Stade Rennais | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | +8 | 50 |
| AS Monaco | 29 | 15 | 4 | 10 | +7 | 49 |
| Strasbourg | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | +12 | 43 |
| Lorient | 29 | 9 | 11 | 9 | -6 | 38 |
| Toulouse | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | -1 | 37 |
| Brest | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | -6 | 36 |
| Paris FC | 29 | 8 | 11 | 10 | -8 | 35 |
| Angers | 29 | 9 | 6 | 14 | -14 | 33 |
| Le Havre AC | 29 | 6 | 11 | 12 | -13 | 29 |
| Nice | 29 | 7 | 7 | 15 | -22 | 28 |
| AJ Auxerre | 29 | 5 | 9 | 15 | -14 | 24 |
| Nantes | 28 | 4 | 7 | 17 | -21 | 19 |
| Metz | 29 | 3 | 6 | 20 | -37 | 15 |
Ligue 1 News