Mostafa Mohamed’s second-half strike wasn’t enough to rescue a point for FC Nantes, as they fell 2-1 to Stade Rennais in a tightly contested Ligue 1 clash on Saturday.

The visitors took the lead in the 23rd minute, capitalizing on a period of dominance to break the deadlock and hold onto the 1-0 advantage going into halftime.

Nantes, however, came out with renewed energy in the second half. Just nine minutes after the restart, Egyptian forward Mostafa Mohamed brought his side level with a well-taken goal in the 54th minute, igniting hopes of a comeback.

But those hopes suffered a major blow shortly after, when Marcus Coco was initially shown a yellow card for a reckless challenge. Following a VAR review, the referee upgraded it to a red, reducing Nantes to 10 men with over 30 minutes left to play.

Despite a resilient defensive effort, Stade Rennais continued to push forward and were finally rewarded in the 84th minute with a late goal that broke Nantes’ resistance and sealed all three points.

It was a disappointing end for Nantes, who showed promise but were ultimately undone by their numerical disadvantage and a late Rennais surge.