Goals from Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Serge Gakpe sent Nantes into eighth spot in the Ligue 1 table with a 2-1 victory over struggling Evian TG this evening.
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It took the best part of 20 minutes for the game to produce its first piece of noteworthy action, with Alejandro Bedoya almost giving Nantes the lead after heading straight at the Evian goalkeeper from Vincent Bessat's cross.
In a quiet first half, Evian's opening attempt came following some good work from Cedric Barbosa on the flank as he turned the ball in for Jonathan Mensah, who could only head straight at a grateful Remy Riou.
Nantes grabbed the opening goal just a few moments before the half-time whistle as Nkoudou profited from Gakpe's cross to finish neatly past Benjamin Leroy.
The home side doubled their lead just after the interval through Gakpe, who drilled a shot into the bottom-left corner following some industrious play from Kian Hansen.
Evian were able to set up a tense finish when Clarck N'Sikulu fired into the bottom-right corner in the 76th minute, but it was too little, too late as Nantes hung on to claim all three points.
Christopher Dodd
