All the elements were in place for the celebration to be joyous and complete this time after the draw conceded at home against Rennes. A well-filled stadium, a summer-like temperature, and a Toulouse team that wasn’t the most dangerous, all gave good reasons to hope for the rise of the Aiglons at the start of the match. Good ball control and a lively Koné put considerable pressure on the uninspired Haute-Garonne team, who desperately sought solutions on the wings with Mansaré and Elmander always very dangerous. We were calmly approaching halftime when Bamogo advanced on the right and found Apam, an immediate cross to Ederson, who had little success until then, sent the ball into Douchez’s net. The stadium erupted, the spectators breathed a sigh of relief, and the few minutes following the Nice goal seemed to hint at a second half in favor of the home team.
A few pissaladières and pan bagnats later, the 22 players resumed their positions on the green rectangle of the Ray, and the first phases of play confirmed the good intentions of Nice with constant pressure on the Toulouse defense, which bent but did not yet break. Balmont seized the opportunity for a small incursion into the visitors’ penalty area and encountered Mansaré in his path. A clash, a foul, and the penalty for Nice was immediate. The spectators stood up, and Koné prepared to take on this task, which would give his teammates a two-goal lead. But Douchez’s goalpost thwarted the Nice striker’s shot. A great chance to secure the lead wasted, especially since a few minutes later, no Nice player could capitalize on another gross error by the Toulouse goalkeeper, who was very shaky in this match, dropping the ball at Ederson’s feet, who tried his luck, only to be blocked by Illunga before Sirieix cleared Echouafni’s follow-up shot off the line.
“We’re not lucky! It’s a jinx! Watch, we’ll get caught on a counter-attack in the last minutes again!” The doubt seemed more widespread in the stands than on the pitch, and to reinvigorate his team, Elie Baup decided to introduce his two forwards, Bergougnoux and Gignac. On the other hand, the Nice coach, who had already replaced Ederson with Traoré, made his second substitution by introducing the new red and black recruit, Joseph Désiré Job, instead of a very active Bamogo that evening. A somewhat surprising coaching decision given the score and the entry of the two Toulouse strikers.
In short, the minutes ticked away, and the scent of victory, the sweet taste of three points, lingered in the air. Only five minutes remained, and the Nice team passed the ball around with the always imperial Hugo Lloris, who once again delivered a top-level performance, asserting himself on both the ground and in the air, and even being saved by his post on a fine header from Dieuze. Then came the 87th minute, and a free kick taken by Paulo Cesar. The Brazilian lofted his cross onto Gignac’s head, who had entered just a few minutes prior and, surprisingly alone six meters out, outpaced the Nice goalkeeper to slot home the equalizer. 1-1, everything was back to square one!
The few actions that punctuated the end of the match yielded little, and both goalkeepers were once again called into action, ensuring that all the participants in this well-paced match headed back to the changing rooms sharing points that the entire stadium already saw in the red and black’s bag.
Ah! Those last five minutes…
