French Ligue 1: Nantes held at home by Reims

Nantes were held to a 1-1 Ligue 1 draw by Reims at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Saturday.

Michel Der Zakarian's men have only suffered one defeat at home this season and they held on to keep that record after Johan Audel's opener was cancelled out by a stunning Diego free-kick as the spoils were shared.

The draw sees the hosts remain fifth in the table - one point below Bordeaux in third - while Jean-Luc Vasseur's side moved up two places into 14th.

The away side were the first to press and Mickael Tacalfred warmed the palms of home goalkeeper Remy Riou three minutes in but Les Canaris' first-choice stopper easily kept the ball out.

Less than 10 minutes later the hosts took the lead from a set-piece. Nantes were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the 18-yard box which Jordan Veretout squared for Johan Audel who made no mistake, sending his shot beyond Johan Placide with the aid of a slight deflection.

The visitors had the chance to claim an equaliser midway through the first half as Diego launched the ball into the penalty box from the left and picked out Odair Fortes at the back post, but his first-time effort came back off the woodwork.

Reims continued to push forward and came close to equalising just after the half-hour mark as Fortes set up Diego on the edge of the area but his well-hit shot was gathered by Riou. And Gaetan Charbonnier fired over Riou's bar minutes before the break.

The hosts almost made it two 10 minutes into the second half as Lucas Deaux broke down the left and burst into the box before finding Etey Shechter, who was unfortunate to direct the ball just wide of Placide's goal.

The early pressure from the away side finally paid off after 57 minutes as they were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position in the right channel and Diego bent a stunning left-footed set-piece beyond Riou and into the top-left corner to level the scores.

Midway through the second half the impressive Diego tried his luck again from distance, this time from open play, but his 25-yard effort forced a save from Riou, who forced the ball out of play for a corner.

Nantes were not done yet and were looking for a winner with two late chances.

First, Serge Gakpe saw his effort from a tight angle turned away for a corner by Placide, before the Reims' stopper made an even better save to turn Valentin Rongier's long-range effort over the bar.