For its third pre-season friendly match, OGC Nice secured a 1-0 win against Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël thanks to a goal by Valentin Eysseric. While the players seemed tired, the supporters were in “great shape” with two interruptions of the match.
It’s almost time for the big comeback, the real one with the hosting of AS Monaco (Saturday, August 8th at 9 PM) but before that, the Gym is preparing intensively. As every year, the red and black made the short trip to the Var to face their partner club, Etoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël. A third friendly match under intense heat (32 degrees at kickoff) before heading to Austria for one last training camp with two matches against the Turkish teams Galatasaray and Besiktas.
The first opportunity came from the Var side following a nice movement close to the box but Maxime Le Marchand, impeccable throughout the first 45 minutes, cleared (8th minute). On the Nice side, all forward attempts were thwarted, with Ben Arfa and Germain being well-targeted. It was Saïd Benrahma who appeared most dangerous for the Gym. He capitalized on good work from Le Marchand, but his shot went over (12th minute). The biggest chance was created by Mickaël Séri, very lively in the first half, after a one-two with Plea, he found the gloves of the Var goalkeeper (30th minute). In the next move, Benrahma, well served by Ben Arfa, saw his curling shot stopped (32nd minute).
After two minutes of play in the second half, the overexcited Nice supporters interrupted the match for the first time. On the menu: loud firecrackers, projectiles on the field, flares, and agricultural bombs, nothing less… As if the two-month break hadn’t changed anything around the OGC Nice sphere. The game resumed, at which point the Nice players chose to open the score. Valentin Eysseric took advantage of a failed clearance by the Etoile defense to strike from 20 meters. A shot that the Fréjus goalkeeper couldn’t catch due to a significant blunder (53rd minute, 0-1). Then, not much else happened apart from attempts by Paulin Puel, Franck Honorat, and Julien Vercauteren.
Around the 75th minute, the situation repeated itself but this time the match was interrupted for nearly half an hour and was close to not resuming at all. The cause? Several firecrackers landed near the assistant referee. Despite the repeated appeals from the announcer to calm the Nice supporters, nothing changed. According to our information, the match referee has written a report that is expected to be sent to the French Football Federation. The season hasn’t officially started yet, and the club might find itself with a fine or worse, a behind-closed-doors sanction. Tense atmosphere although no major event justified such excesses which considerably annoyed the Var public who came to watch a friendly match…
Photo credit: OGC Nice
