The people of Nice confirmed their home victory against Rennes by following up with their first away win on the pitch of SCO Angers (0-1).
If you were late to the Jean Bouin stadium last night, you would have missed a crucial part of the game. Early in the 4th minute, the Gym opened the scoring. After excellent work by Eysseric, a one-two between Mika Seri and Alassane Pléa allowed the latter to score on the first opportunity of the match. It was also his first goal of the season.
The Angers team reacted and, through several set-pieces, they managed to worry the Nice team. A header by Thomas hit the crossbar (17th), and Cardinale made saves on shots from Sunu (23rd) and then Ketkeophomphone (27th).
On their side, the Gym, although threatened, held strong. The effect of Lucien Favre was evident, and the new arrivals in the starting XI (Bodmer as number 6, Ricardo on the right, Eysseric and Cyprien on the wings) were beneficial. Counterattacks allowed the Eagles to resist, and they narrowly missed doubling their lead when a curled shot by Cyprien hit the post of Petric but wasn’t followed up by Pléa (41st).
Nice Resists but Does Not Yield
In the second half, the Angers team returned with better intentions. However, they continued to be inaccurate. Ketkeophomphone posed the main threat, but the Angers players quickly tired out, and Nice took advantage. Fast runs by Dalbert and Ricardo helped bring danger into the box. Dalbert almost doubled the score in the 54th minute.
Nice secured its victory and in the last few minutes of the match, it was Eysseric’s turn to come close to scoring a second goal, but his shot hit the crossbar of Petric (86th). The final scare came in added time when a poor clearance by Cardinale nearly cost them dearly (90th).
At the final whistle, Nice placed second provisionally. The progress in their play was evident, and the defense was solid. Despite announced reinforcements (especially Dante), this Gym team is solid and holds down the fort, thanks to its young players. Importantly, Cardinale did not concede any goals. This bodes well ahead of the match against Lille next Saturday (8 PM at Allianz Riviera).
The Stat: 2/2, It’s Been a While!
We had to go back to the 2003-2004 season to see OGC Nice win its first two matches. At that time, under the leadership of Gernot Rohr, the Eagles had won at Auxerre (1-2), before dominating FC Sochaux at home, at Ray (1-0), thanks to a goal from Brazilian Everson.
Paul Baysse’s Reaction: “We saw a very good Nice team in terms of spirit. That’s what we need to remember tonight. It was tough from the start, they put a lot of pressure on us. They are very athletic, and we responded as best as we could. We didn’t give up. All matches are tough, but this one was particularly so. We didn’t manage to impose our game, there were good phases but not enough of what we work on in training. Victories bring confidence and pleasure. We are competitors, we must not rest on our laurels, we have to keep working. We have Lille’s visit next week, which is going to be a different but also complicated encounter.”
Lucien Favre’s Reaction: “It was a good match because there were opportunities on both sides. Angers had chances especially from crosses and set-pieces, as we had anticipated. We had our chances too, including a post. Again, I would say it’s not an undeserved win; it’s even more deserved than against Rennes. We have 6 points after two days, which is great, but seeing how we suffered against Rennes and again tonight, we remain grounded. We know we will suffer again. We must continue to provoke success. What is positive today is that we had 3 or 4 big chances in addition to the goal. By the way, a beautiful goal, following a nice play.”
