Despite being largely superior to the Monegasques, the Aiglons conceded a draw, due to ever more deplorable refereeing.
Do you know François Letexier? No? Yet, he’s becoming well-known in Nice. The fellow seems to have a particular relationship with the Gym. To begin with, know that he is a referee. Ouch, yes, I know, it’s not easy for them at the moment (hello Tony), but like good colleagues, they stick together.
Little François, who obviously has a grudge against Nice (bad vacation? ex-wife from Nice?), thus gifted Monaco the point of the draw. He could have handed them the victory, true. But on the other side, Nice was having a great evening.
Do you remember Nice-Caen, last March? The referee who saw the handball but didn’t call the penalty, that was him. The disastrous refereeing against Angers, in September? That was him too. Oh, and Lille’s offside goal, also in Nice, in August 2016, that was also François Letexier. Funny, right?
“Monaco is capable of everything: waiting and countering; or playing their game. We will need to be ready for anything,” announced Lucien Favre at a press conference during the week. Like a bad refrain, the Gym was first trapped by a team that waited, countered, and then played once ahead or… once behind.
Helped greatly by the decision of Mr. Letexier, who was the only one not to see Diakhaby use his hand to control the ball from a Lemar cross, and then fire past Benitez at close range (1-0, 35’), the serious neighbor simplified matters greatly with official help.
Before this scoring opener, which should have resulted in a free kick, they merely defended. Well. Very well. Jorge muzzled Saint-Maximin, Glik cut all the trajectories, and the Aiglons, masters of possession, broke their beaks on the rock. Caught in dense opposition, Balotelli—back in the starting eleven—was first forced to drift wide to express himself. After stepping back a bit, he tried from long range (7’), then on a free kick (12’), without troubling Subasic. Cyprien’s weak shot (25’)—he also returned—and Lees-Melou’s control-shot combo (32’) didn’t give the Croatian goalkeeper any shivers either.
Thus, ASM let the first half-hour go by like a beast watches a storm. Hidden in the shadows and ready to pounce. In the first period, when the princely group emerged, it took a very concentrated Burner to prevent Diakhaby from meeting a cross from Baldé (10’). When they opened the scoring, the outgoing champion reversed the course of this 21st day. They positioned higher, took control of the game.
Half-time arrived. Just in time. The Red and Black had 45 minutes ahead to overturn the scenario. It only took their superhero 2 minutes to restore parity. Justice. At 47’, Saint-Maximin finally got the better of Jorge and crossed strongly in front of the goal. In a new echo to coach Favre’s words, the tall Italian took a huge bite out of his only ball within the 16 meters. Deadly, clever, precise, he held Glik just enough to unbalance his opponent without fouling, and exploded like a shell to push the ball in deep (1-1, 47’). From then on, the true magic of the derby swept away all predictions. The adversaries traded blow for blow, and the debates became animated.
Glik took the ball off Mario’s 2-1 chance (55’), Seri from Lemar (59’), Sidibé from Cyprien (62’), the atmosphere electrified. The icy wind became a burning breeze. Super Mario, grumbling, surfed the atmosphere to light the lamp. Launched by Seri, the buffalo set off to challenge Raggi in a one-on-one, moved wide, and doubled the lead thanks to a deflected shot by his compatriot (1-2, 68’).
Louis-II celebrated the Nice goal. As always. The Gym believed they had their victory, hoped… but lacked clarity at the very end of the match. After a quickly taken free kick, (which should never have been awarded) Benitez parried a shot from Lopes into the path of Falcao, who just had to equalize (2-2, 92’).
A frustrating finale that brought an end to an exciting derby. It could have swung in the Gym’s favor without the new errors of François Letexier. Let’s look at the positive side. Nice remains unbeaten in the championship for seven games. Firmly clinging to the sixth place, they witnessed the fledgling resurgence of the Seri-Cyprien duo, but also the confirmation that with Balotelli, it’s much better. Fortunately for the sky birds of Louis-II, Pléa wasn’t alone at the top.
THE STAT: 27
Scoring a double against Monaco, Mario Balotelli brought his total to 12 goals this season in Ligue 1. The Italian international has now scored 27 goals in L1 with Nice (in 38 matches), matching his best total for the same club in the league (on par with AC Milan, but in 63 matches). He ranks fifth in the scorers’ standings with 12 goals, just ahead of a certain… Neymar (11 goals).
REACTION FROM LUCIEN FAVRE:
For Monaco’s first goal, I didn’t see the images but according to everyone, he controls the ball with his hand. Video refereeing? My opinion has not changed. I’m not against it, but I just want it to be simple. Let’s not waste 5 minutes looking at a screen and wondering “is there a hand or not, penalty or not” (he sighs)… If we want to control everything, it’s complicated. We need to go step by step, I think. It is really something tough to set up. It hurts a lot because we would have deserved victory over the whole second half. In the first half it wasn’t great, but in the second much better, we played football, a pretty team. We need to avoid making mistakes and especially, if there is a mistake, get in front of the ball… that’s experience.
REACTION FROM JEAN-PIERRE RIVERE
It’s always the same. Many of us see it (Diakhaby’s handball) but well, apparently, there are a few who didn’t… If Mr. Letexier saw it, it is like last year. I will not comment on that. Then, the free kick was taken quickly, I don’t even know if it was whistled. So quickly that I looked down, and everyone was caught off guard. It’s a shame because I think we had a very good match and deserved better. But we took a point, and that’s already good.
