Ligue 1 – FC Nantes: Brilliant against PSG (3-1), Alban Lafont is now in a new dimension

30% fewer goals than last season

The Nantes coach nevertheless knows that he had a hollow nose, he who pushed last spring for his leaders to exercise the purchase option of 7.5 million euros from Alban Lafont. Before that, the former Espoir international was on loan from Fiorentina, who had not seen him as an indisputable starter. More comfortable with FC Nantes, the former Toulousain is one of the major figures of the Nantes revival, after the galley of recent seasons.

Quite simply, from an accounting point of view, it is already ahead of its passing times. He concedes fewer goals, and (finally) earns points for his team. In 2021-2022, he conceded 29 goals in 25 matches, 11 less than last year at the same time, which is a drop of almost 30%. During the previous exercise, which ended in 18th place in the play-off, he had made only 5 clean sheets throughout the season. It is already at 6 this year, with more than a third of the championship still to be played. Certainly well helped by a more solid defense, Lafont also reassures his team, which creates a virtuous circle explaining the relative impermeability of the Nantes cage.

The penalty, a worked and mastered exercise

Because with 73% of stops on opposing shots on target, the young goalkeeper is in the standards of the best goalkeepers in Europe this year. Also congratulated for his save on Neymar’s penalty, Lafont is not on his first attempt either. This is already his second stoppage of the season on the exercise after the one stopped against Jonathan David and Lille last November (1-1). Since his return to Ligue 1 in Nantes, he has stopped no less than 8 penalties, against specialists as a bonus (David, Delort, Dembélé, Kakuta and, therefore, Neymar…). Very complete, the promising goalkeeper finally confirms at the highest level, to the delight of the Canaries.

In any case, he remains unfailingly humble: “How do I rate myself after such a match? I do not know. Me, as long as my parents and relatives are happy with me, that’s the most important thing“. Captain of a historic club at just 23 years old, Lafont seems galvanized by the armband, while keeping a cool head. And if the suitors should not be missing after his incredible performance on Saturday, make no mistake about it. not: the match against Paris was not a one-night stand, but the illustration of an entire season at a very high level for the Nantes goalkeeper.