Moses Simon's Nantes suffer heavy defeat to Balogun's Reims

Moses Simon in action against Reims

Moses Simon's Nantes suffer heavy defeat to Balogun's Reims

Faruq Ibrahim 15:55 - 02.04.2023

Moses Simon was profligate as his Nantes suffered a heavy defeat to Reims.

Nantes had a shocking game at both ends of the pitch, being wasteful in front of the opposition goal and poorly defending their own, causing them to suffer a staggering 3-0 defeat to Reims.  

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.co.ke/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

The run of league games without a win for Nantes extended to seven games in the defeat to Reims, to the dismay of the home fans at the Beaujoire Stadium. 

How it happened 

Contrary to the final result, Nantes started the better side, and even after Reims started to play their way into the game, the hosts wrestled pack possession and led a period of dominance that unfortunately did not amount to goals.  

Towards the end of the second-half, Will Still's side started to show the stuff they are made of, taking the lead in the 38th minute after an Alexis Flips strike.

Roughly one minute after, Nantes' deficit was doubled when the man on fire, Folarin Balogun set up Flips, who made no mistake finding the back of the net.  

Reims found this in the second-half, on the 58th-minute mark, Marshall Munetsi putting the game farther away from Les Canaries.

Nantes reacted, made a host of changes, and had a flurry of attacks towards the end, but they did not manage to change their fortunes.  

Moses Simon game by numbers 

The Super Eagles winger had a forgettable game and was hooked on the hour mark.

Moses Simon in action against Reims
Moses Simon in action against Reims

In his 60 minutes on the pitch, he completed only one dribble and attempted only ten passes. Even more damning was the big chance he missed, at a time that could have changed the course of the game. 

Related content