French media reacts as ex-Nottingham Forest defender Moussa Niakhate struggles for Lyon vs Man Utd

Add as preferred source on Google

If the drama of Manchester United vs Lyon was enough to capture the interest of Nottingham Forest fans, ex-Red Moussa Niakhate’s display was certainly eye-opening.

When Niakhate left Forest for Lyon at the start of the season, few could’ve expected that his replacement, Nikola Milenkovic, would be such a hit at the City Ground.

Milenkovic has had an amazing season, which has made the Senagalese defender almost an afterthought, especially given that Forest pocketed £27m from the Niakhate sale and spent a fraction of that on their new Serbian powerhouse at the back.

Still, it would’ve been nice for Forest fans to see how Niakhate performed on Thursday night, but he had a rather difficult time for Lyon against Manchester United.

French media blast Moussa Niakhate for Europa League display

Forest completed a league double over Man United this season, but Niakhate didn’t enjoy the same luck, being part of a Lyon side that suffered a dramatic 5-4 defeat at Old Trafford, including two goals in the 120th minute to crash out of the Europa League.

The French media were particularly displeased by the ex-Forest man’s contribution to the result, emphasised by the scathing player ratings he was given in the aftermath.

Footmercato gave Niakhate a 4/10, saying: “He was left behind on Manchester United’s first goal when he was too permissive in front of Garnacho, […] before cracking and being eaten by Maguire for the 5-4 goal.

Maxifoot were even more brutal, giving the defender a 2/10 rating and adding: “The Senegalese central defender was taken down far too easily by Garnacho’s angled control, which led to Ugarte’s opening goal. He was also guilty of a poor alignment for Maguire’s fatal goal, which he completely forgot about. Two terrible actions that cost OL dearly.”

Stats behind Moussa Niakhate’s ‘terrible’ display vs Manchester United

Before he was sold, Nuno Espirito Santo wanted to keep Niakhate, but judging purely on his Europa League performance, Forest got the better of the sale.

In terms of the base defensive stats, Niakhate was ok, winning all of the tackles he attempted and not being dribbled past in the 120 minutes, but as the French media hinted at, it was the key moments that let the 29-year-old down.

In fact, the aerial duel he lost against Maguire for United’s winner was the only one he lost all evening, showing that the important moments of the game will be remembered for his errors rather than the solid display he put in otherwise.