French Ligue 1: Metz and Nantes share spoils

Metz and Nantes both remain unbeaten at the start of the new Ligue 1 season after sharing the points in a 1-1 draw at Stade Saint-Symphorien.

Nantes, who beat Lens in their opening match, were briefly on course for another victory over another newly promoted side when Jordan Veretout put them ahead after just two minutes.

However, the hosts were level within 10 minutes when Yeni N'Gbakoto converted from the penalty spot after Juan Manuel Falcon had gone down very easily in the box, and that is the way the match finished.

Metz began the season in impressive fashion as they held a Lille side who finished third in Ligue 1 last term to a goalless draw away from home, but they suffered a miserable start to their first home match as Nantes scored with their first attack.

Issa Cissokho's free-kick found Veretout and his effort from just inside the box beat Metz goalkeeper Johann Carrasso.

Nantes were not able to enjoy their lead for long though as Metz equalised through N'Gbakoto's penalty.

The visitors may not have been overly impressed to see referee Alexandre Castro point to the spot after Falcon went down in the area, but N'Gbakoto was not about to waste the chance to level the scores.

Despite that disappointment, Nantes looked the more likely side to get a second goal before the interval with Serge Gakpe hitting the side-netting with a free-kick and Johan Audel bringing a good save out of Carrasso.

Nantes were also back on the attack at the start of the second half and had a great double chance to score in the 50th minute.

First, Carrasso did brilliantly to keep out Audel's effort from a tight angle and then Gakpe somehow managed to steer the loose ball wide of goal.

That was comfortably the best Nantes could fashion in the second half, and it was Metz who could have snatched the points in the final half-hour as they created three reasonable chances.

Gaetan Bussmann fired the first just wide after 62 minutes, then 10 minutes later Romain Rocchi brought a smart save out of Maxime Dupe, who soon after kept out N'Gbakoto's 30-yard free-kick to ensure the spoils were shared.