Nantes (AFP)

Bordeaux regained some oxygen by beating hard (1-0) Sunday from Nantais reduced to 10 for more than half an hour and probably marked by the tribute to their former teammate Emiliano Sala, who disappeared a year ago .

With this success, the Girondins in the doldrums end their series of four defeats in a row in the championship and go back to 10th place, while the Nantes slip to 6th place and see their hope for a European place very weakened, before the derby on Friday at the Rennes rival, current 3rd, and the reception of PSG in nine days.

There was first the emotion, the silence of nearly 30,000 spectators while the giant screens broadcast images of their former number 9 and the Loire tribune deployed a tifo representing Sala alongside Henri Michel and others old glories that have disappeared from FC Nantes with this promise: "Our collective memory makes you immortal".

Then the explosion of "Emiliano Sala, Emiliano Sala ...", an immense tifo displaying the face of the Argentine attack and his number 9 on all the stands and a minute of applause which was prolonged. And at the 9th minute, as in every game for a year, supporters lit smoke bombs and the stadium rose to sing: "He's an Argentinian, he never lets go ..."

Perhaps seized by emotion, the Canaries - who had already missed their matches for "Sala" last year - had trouble entering the game, leaving the Bordeaux to be several times dangerous without creating real opportunities, like a shot from Hwang who flew into the stands (14th).

Even after the scattering of smoke from the 9th minute, the men of Christian Gourcuff struggled to regain the upper hand, in a movement launched by a strike from Louza just above the transverse (22nd).

Despite everything, the match remained closed for a long time, blocked in midfield and lacking inspiration on both sides, until exclusion for a second severe yellow card from Girotto (53rd), who opened again spaces at the Bordelais and let the people of Nantes settle for hasty counterattacks.

Now masters of the game, the Bordeaux have pressed and multiplied the attempts: strike from De Preville deflected in a corner by goalkeeper Lafont (67th), head of Hwang not on target (81st), until the release by a center of Méchir perfectly resumed by Briand in the area (0-1, 86th). But it will not necessarily be enough to completely reassure before the reception of Marseille in a week ...

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