Hibs U19s made it to the Second Round by beating FK Molde on penalties, whilst Nantes saw off FC Pyunik of Armenia 5-0 on aggregate. The French side would provide tough opposition, as they sat sixth in the French U19s league entering the game.
Steve Kean made no changes to the side that recorded the historic win three weeks ago, which meant it would be Murray Johnson in goal, a solid back four of Josh McCulloch, Kanayo Megwa, Jacob Blaney and Oscar MacIntyre in front of him.
Captain Murray Aitken and Robbie Hamilton anchored the midfield. Ethan Laidlaw and Owen Hastie would operate either side of the pair, and Josh O’Connor led the line with Malik Zaid playing off of him.
Nantes started strongly, dominating the ball, looking to break through the Hibs defence, but Steve Kean’s side were well organised and very disciplined.
There was an early switch of formation for Hibs, after just 10 minutes, switching to the 3-5-2 system to match the French side, Owen Hastie was the man to drop into the back three, in hopes to soak up more of the pressure being applied by Nantes.
Hibs would be the first side to have a sight of goal. Josh O’Connor did well to work himself some space 25 yards out, but his curling effort was deflected over Lucas Bonelli’s crossbar.
This sparked the visitors into life, as immediately Sacha Ziani and Adel Mahamoud worked a lovely give and go inside the Hibs box, luckily Ziani – their captain - dragged his shot wide of the near post.
The Wee Hibees continued to threaten Nantes on the counter, Josh O’Connor showed his strength, he outmuscled Karamoko Keita, and won his side a corner. Nantes could not clear their lines, but Kanayo Megwa could not control his volley, and saw it fly over the bar.
In the 36th minute Nantes would test Murray Johnson for the first time, Ziani would play in Exaucee Mafoumbi M Badinga, the striker wasn’t able to get curl on the ball he needed, and the striker’s effort was safely caught by Johnson.
Just before the half-time whistle, Nantes left back Tituan Fortun would try to catch out Johnson at his near post, but the Hibs shot stopper was alert, turning the effort behind for a corner.
Hibs would weather the storm, and make it to the half-time break, at 0-0. Steve Kean would make two changes at half-time bringing on Rudi Molotnikov and Jacob MacIntyre, who both travelled back from being with Scotland’s U17 squad, to take part in this match.
The Wee Hibees almost had the perfect start to the second half, Josh O’Connor did incredibly well on the left touchline, his speed taking him away from the Nantes defenders and giving him the opportunity to put the ball into the box. His ball found Molotnikov, six yards out, Rudi evaded a challenge, and with the goal at his mercy, he could not get the ball out of his feet to take advantage of the opportunity.
Just on the hour mark, Nantes began to turn up the intensity, creating a pair of promising chances in just a minute. The first came directly from a ball over the top from Bonelli, Mahamoud was in behind the Hibs backline, who were appealing for offside, but the linesman flag remained down. Thankfully Mahamoud pulled his shot wide.
The second came from Titouan Fortun who used his pace to get in behind the Hibs defence, his shot from a narrow angle went over the bar.
Hibs defensive resilience allowed them to see out Nantes spell of pressure, and they looked to regain a foothold in the game. Murray Aiken, who was awarded man of the match, carried the ball strongly in midfield, he looked to unlock the Nantes defence by finding O'Connor, who was bursting to the byline. O'Connor tried to pick out Laidlaw, his cross was deflected by Bonelli. Laidlaw still managed to meet the cross, but was stretching for the ball, his volley lacked the power to open the scoring, being cleared by Nathan Zeze.
In the 74th minute Hibs would get a glorious chance to open the scoring. MacIntyre found Laidlaw on the left wing, he got the better of Mathieu Acapandie, and then skipped past Zeze, who brought him down inside the box, the Estonian referee showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Laidlaw would step up and take the penalty himself, he sent Bonelli the wrong way, placing the ball into the bottom right corner, wheeling away to celebrate with the Block Seven fans, who yet again created an incredible atmosphere for the Wee Hibees.
Three minutes later, O’Connor would get a chance to double the lead. MacIntyre and Laidlaw combined again down the left wing, Laidlaw this time got away from Keita, he squared the ball to strike partner O’Connor, but he was denied by the feet of Bonelli.
Hibs were able to see out the 90 minutes, securing another amazing result in the UEFA Youth League. They will take their one goal advantage to France for the second leg, which will be played next Wednesday, 2 November.
Hibs: Johnson; McCulloch (J. MacIntyre, 46’), Megwa, Blaney, O.MacIntyre, Laidlaw, Hamilton, Aiken, Hastie, Zaid (Molotnikov, 46’), O’Connor (Landers, 89’).
