At the Stade de la Beaujoire, a thrilling first half of action saw contributions from Nantes and Monaco. Shortly before he was sent off for Monaco's first goal, Dehmaine Tabibou smashed the crossbar with his enraged initial attempt.
Mamadou Coulibaly cushioned and drove past the defenceless Anthony Lopes after Maghnes Akliouche outmuscled the Nantes midfielder and surged towards the byline, clipping the ball towards the back post. After Junior Mwanga sliced a cross onto his own crossbar and Folarin Balogun fired over with only the custodian to beat, Nantes was lucky not to fall behind two goals too soon. Monaco was held back by Herba Guirassy's first league goal of the season rather than expanding their lead. Matthis Abline's flair and mobility down the right wing produced the opportunity, and the striker then sent a right-footed shot past Philipp Köhn.