PSG Suffer their Second Ligue 1 Defeat of the Season when they Lost 3-1 to Nantes

Nantes rushed to a three-goal halftime lead and then rode their luck to win 3-1 at home on Saturday, handing runaway leaders Paris St Germain their second Ligue 1 defeat of the season.

In a thrilling match at the Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes had little control, had a player sent off only to have the red card overturned on VAR review, and then watched as Neymar wasted a penalty.

In a surprising reversal for the star-studded PSG line-up, they walked away with a complete harvest of points.

After a blistering run down the left flank by Moses Simon, Randal Kolo Muani put Nantes ahead after four minutes, and they were 2-0 up 12 minutes later when youth Quentin Merlin scored his first goal for his hometown club with a rasping left-footed drive.

Two minutes before the halftime, Nantes defender Dennis Appiah was sent off for tripping Kylian Mbappe as he headed goalwards. When replays revealed that the clash was not as cynical as first assumed, the VAR asked the referee to reconsider his judgement and changed it to a yellow card. When Georginio Wijnaldum handled the ball in his own penalty box in stoppage time before the break, VAR interfered again, awarding Nantes a penalty kick, which Ludovic Blas converted for a surprising halftime lead.

PSG, who were 13 points ahead of Olympique de Marseille at the start of the game, pulled a goal back a minute into the second half when Lionel Messi set up Neymar for a brilliant finish.

When Appiah again took down Mbappe, the Brazilian, who had been out of the starting lineup since November, had a chance to cut the gap further, but his penalty was a poor effort straight at Alban Lafont.

PSG kept up the pressure in the closing 20 minutes, but were unable to take advantage of their numerous chances. Mbappe then had an uncommon error from point-blank range.

Nantes moved up to fifth place in Ligue 1 after the win, putting them in contention for a place in next season’s European club competition.