Nantes kept their perfect record intact with a 36:31 victory away at Montpellier in the Starligue on Sunday. The hosts had started the competition with one draw from three matches, while the visitors sat top with three wins and six points. By then, the gap between them was clear enough to read from the table alone.
Nantes never really looked back after taking control early on. Montpellier had shown resilience in their recent matches — a narrow defeat to Barcelona and a win over Dinamo Bucharest — but against the league leaders they were left exposed. To be fair, the visitors camped in the final third for long stretches and let the tie slip only when they needed to see it out.
The result keeps Nantes at the summit with a two-point cushion, though both sides have played the same number of games. Montpellier drop further behind in fourth place after that loss, while the visitors extend their winning run to three. Cup football has its own rules, but this was a straightforward league affair.
Montpellier's recent form had suggested they could trouble anyone — they beat Nîmes 38:33 and Châteauroux 41:22 — but against the top side they had hit a wall. Nantes, meanwhile, were consistent: a win over Vardar, a comfortable result against Provence, and a tight victory in Poland. The old head settled them down when it mattered.
We had backed the hosts at 50 per cent confidence before kickoff, but the match went the other way. The visitors did not travel to make up the numbers — they came to win, and they did.
