Nantes fight back to shock Paris Saint-Germain and dent champions' Ligue 1 title challenge

Paris Saint-Germain missed a golden opportunity to go top of Ligue 1 on Sunday night when they lost 2-1 at home to relegation-battling Nantes.

After league leaders Lille endured a goalless draw with fourth-placed Monaco earlier in the day, the Parisians could have seized the opportunity to regain pole position which they lost in late January.

Instead, Nantes won just their fifth Ligue 1 game of the season to lift themselves past Nimes into 18th place - just one point off safety.

Julian Draxler, who is out of contract in the summer, opened the scoring a few minutes before half-time with a scuffed shot that Alban Lafont in the Nantes goal would have expected to save.

Just over 20 minutes prior, Nantes were controversially denied a penalty when Randal Kolo Muani appeared to be hauled over by Presnel Kimpembe in the area - something the referee Karim Abed and the VAR officials saw nothing wrong with.

Karma must have worked in Nantes’ and Kolo Muani’s favour though, as two-thirds of the way into the game they equalised. Kolo Muani seized on Kylian Mbappe’s aimless backwards pass, dropped his shoulder to beat Marquinhos and smashed the ball into the back of the net.

Mauricio Pochettino's PSG were then left reeling on 71 minutes as Moses Simon netted what proved to be the winner. He was squared the ball after Lafont's punt was headed into the path of Kolo Muani.

PSG stay in second ahead of Wednesday's top of the table clash versus Lille.

A second consecutive home Ligue 1 loss and the blame game begins for the Parc des Princes outfit, but where does the fault really lie?

Many will point to the absences of Neymar and Moise Kean who were ruled out due to injury and a positive Covid-19 test respectively, particularly considering that Mbappe looked over-burdened in attack.

However, Juan Bernat's ACL injury that occurred a couple of games into the season has likely been more damaging than the short-term loss of one of their two star men and a key goalscorer.

Layvin Kurzawa and Mitchel Bakker are the two obvious deputies at left-back, with both sharing starting duties for the most part this season, but Bakker has only started once after Pochettino's first two games in charge in early January.

Kurzawa has featured more regularly under Pochettino, but the Argentine manager giving Abdou Diallo - a centre-back by trade - his third start of the season in a more unfamiliar left-back role highlighted how unconvincing Kurzawa has been. Unfortunately for them, though, Diallo's limitations are clear, especially going forward.

Another factor in Sunday's loss that cannot be discounted is Angel Di Maria being taken off in the 62nd minute amid confusion due to his home being burgled, with the aforementioned confusion quite clearly causing the PSG players and coaching staff alike to lose their focus.

The France Under-21 international forward overcame the disappointment of not getting the penalty call in his favour by running rings around the PSG defence in the second half.

While the goals may not have started flowing for him on a regular basis, this has been something of a breakthrough season for the man who spent the last campaign on loan in the third tier with US Boulogne.

Not only was his work rate tireless, but he was admirably clinical, scoring with one of his two shots on goal and getting a brilliant assist to go with that too.

PSG: Navas 5, Dagba 5, Marquinhos 5, Kimpembe 5, Diallo 6, Danilo 6, Verratti 6, Di Maria 6, Rafinha 5, Draxler 7, Mbappe 5...Subs: Icardi 5, Paredes 6, Sarabia 5, Kehrer 5

Nantes: Lafont 6, Pallois 7, Girotto 6, Castelletto 6, Traore 6, Coco 6, Chirivella 6, Toure 7, Simon 7, Kolo Muani 8*, Blas 6...Subs: Emond N/A, Bamba N/A, Louza N/A

11' - SAVED!! Great piece of skill by Di Maria on the edge of the area to work the ball onto his left foot and it's a fantastic save from Lafont to push it over!

12' - OFF THE BAR!! Corner comes in and Marquinhos' header bounces off the crossbar! The game's barely started yet Nantes already seem to be on borrowed time.

20' - Kolo Muani attempts to drag the ball past Kimpembe and is pushed over in the process! Calls for a penalty from Nantes players but the referee ignores it. That is a major let-off for PSG...looked like a definite penalty to me!

42' - GOAL!!! Di Maria and Mbappe try a one-two but the final pass is deflected towards Draxler, who doesn't exactly hit the ball cleanly but it's enough to beat Lafont and make it 1-0 PSG!

59' - GOAL!!! Out of nowhere Nantes have equalised! An aimless backwards pass from Mbappe is intercepted by Kolo Muani, who drops his shoulder to beat Marquinhos and smash the ball in the back of the net. Game on.

71' - GOAL!!! Nantes take a shock lead! Lafont's kick is headed into the path of Kolo Muani, who runs into the box and squares it to Simon for a first-time finish. A long VAR check for offside ensues but the goal stands! 2-1 Nantes.