After a solid first half, Nice lost their footing and were punished by a clinical Angers (3-0). Without any solutions in attack, Nice suffers a heavy loss.
Forced to deal with numerous absentees, Patrick Vieira trusted a 4-3-3 formation built to play. Malang Sarr and Dante formed the central defense, Patrick Burner started on the right, and Christophe Jallet on the left.
In midfield, as with the match against Lyon, the Tamèze – Cyprien – Walter trio was retained. Not seen in the starting eleven since the reception of Auxerre in the League Cup, Bassem Srarfi occupied the left wing of the attack, Eddy Sylvestre the right, and Ignatius Ganago was at the front.
Nice began the match by controlling the ball and withstanding local offensives. Nice notably stood out with a superb move from Tamèze in the middle of the Angers defense, concluded by a toe poke from Jallet (25th minute).
But once again, a defensive mistake cost the Aiglons dearly when a loss of the ball near the area allowed Angers to launch a counter-attack. Jallet, late on Fulgini, caught him and caused a penalty. Stéphane Bahoken, who was trained at Nice, did not hesitate to convert it (1-0, 44th minute).
At halftime, Nice were trailing but not out of it. Yet, just after the break, an Angers move on the right side was concluded by a lay-off to Fulgini, who only had to beat Benitez (2-0, 47th minute).
Nice responded, notably through Ganago and Cyprien from a free kick, but never truly troubled Angers, who even added a third goal in injury time, thanks to substitute Cristian Lopez (3-0, 90+2nd minute).
DANTE’S REACTION
“We had a good first half. It’s a shame to concede that goal just before halftime. The score is heavy, but we played and put in the effort. We had the right mindset. But it wasn’t enough, and we need to keep working to improve. The attackers really respected what the coach asked, playing simple, quickly, and between the lines. We lacked depth, but we shouldn’t question everything. I congratulate the young players because they played a good game.”
