When nothing goes right… The elements raged against OGC Nice, who fell (2-0) to Valenciennes in a match that will not leave a lasting impression.
For the people of Nice, a positive result could almost guarantee their spot in Ligue 1 for next season.
Is there a silver lining in this clear lack of success? Tonight’s defeat has no impact on the standings. Down at the bottom, only Auxerre (who were trailing) won. It’s a status quo in the lower half of the table: Nice remains fourteenth and still has a precious four-point lead over the relegation zone. A small consolation on this nightmarish afternoon…
Looking forward to next Wednesday for another crucial match against Lille, who are rapidly closing in for the final sprint for a Champions League spot.
A match to forget. In every sense of the word. Almost spoiled from the start: a clash between Anin and Mater, exaggerated by the cunning northern defender, and Nice is reduced to ten men before even fifteen minutes of play. Not great. And that was before fate took its toll…
From this 2-0 defeat at Valenciennes, there is really not much to remember.
Played in a constant slow pace, it ultimately turned on two unfortunate rebounds. While the exclusion didn’t seem to bother the Aiglons more than their opponents, the match took a long time to heat up. When Valenciennes accelerated, the defense was vigilant and repelled. But on a cross punched out by Ospina, the ball rebounded off Digard and allowed Kadir to find the net (1-0, 35th minute). And nothing notable happened until… a pinball moment.
Bad luck!
The second half restarted with the same impression of slow pace. Nice tried to break out, moved well when losing the ball. But how unlucky the Gym was when Ospina dived well at an opponent’s feet, sending the ball back… onto the foot of the Nice captain: the unfortunate player didn’t have time to move before the ball went in (2-0, 52nd minute). It was too much for the Gym.
