Nantes make their point at Ligue 1 paceestters PSG

Nantes defied the form book on Saturday night with a resolute display to earn a point at Ligue 1 pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain.

The visitors arrived at the Parc des Princes on the back of four successive defeats to face a team that had won five games on the trot in the French top flight.

And within two minutes of kick-off, it appeared the respective sequences would continue.

Achraf Hakimi stabbed home afterGonçalo Ramos marked his first start for PSG in three months with a neat back-heeled flick from Nuno Mendes' cross to set him up.

The strike animated the home faithful on a bitterly cold night in the French capital and they should have been further warmed seven minutes later when Vitinha engineered an opening for himself but he shot straight at the Nantes goalkeeper Patrik Carlgren.

The 32-year-old Swede also thwarted Hakimi and Kang-in Lee as PSG dominated possession and racked up the chances.

But for all Carlgren's acrobatics, he should have been eliminated from the equation in the 35th minute following more slick play from Ramos but Bradley Barcola fluffed his moment to double the advantage.

Chances

PSG paid the price for their lack of precision minutes later. Matthis Abline was set free down the left mid way into the PSG half and the France under-21 international bedazzled Willian Pachco with his fleet feet to fire the ball across the PSG goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma for a classy equaliser.

"We came here knowing that we would suffer," said Nantes boss Antoine Kombouaré. "But my players fought for every ball and they deserve the credit for the result."

On the cusp of half-time, Joao Neves compounded the hosts' woes when he failed to slide the ball into the net after Carlgren had parried a piledriver from Mendes.

Neves was guilty of another miss 12 minutes into the second-half.

"When you play here, you know PSG will have the ball. They press you and they wear you out. But they lacked clarity in front of goal. We had two chances and we took one of them."

Result

The result took PSG seven points clearat the top. Monaco can cut the deficit to four points with victory on Sunday night at third-placed Marseille.

"We did everything right," lamented PSG boss Luis Enrique. "We dominated possession and we created chances but it was ever thus ... success in football comes from goals and not chances created. The team tried until the end which is important."

The stalemate ended a miserable week for the French champions. They lost 1-0 at Bayern Munich on Tuesday night to lie just outside the qualifying berths forthe second phase with three games remaining in the group stages.

"It's inexplicable," added Enrique. "We've got fantastic stats but it's just not hapening for us. We had 24 shots on goal –  eight on target. We did as much as possible but Nantes defended well."

The draw leaves Nantes in the relegation zone but with renewed hope, said Kombouaré. "It's not enormous as it is only point but it stops the sequence of defeats and it's a point at the Parc des Princes which you don't really expect.

"It will give us something to build for next weekend's game against Rennes."