After the setback a little over a week ago against Briançon, the Liga Magnus’s last place team, Nice reassured themselves in the early match of the 43rd day of Ligue Magnus. Traveling to Anglet, the Nice team needed to win this match to ensure their position as runner-up. And they did so with a decisive victory against the third in the championship.
Currently the runner-up to Rouen, the red and black team asserted themselves on Anglet’s field with a score of (4-1). The team from Nice set up a solid defense, leaving little space for deadly counter-attacks. After trailing for 27 minutes, Stanislas Sutor’s players quickly leveled the score, thanks to a power play awarded due to a penalty by Andrea Palat for holding a Nice player’s stick.
The turning point of the match occurred in the final moments
In the last two minutes of the match, Anglet employed a strategy that backfired. They went all in by removing their goalkeeper to achieve a numerical advantage. At that precise moment, the Eagles were leading (2-1) and pulled back from the attack to secure the victory. Fortunately for them, their opponents made a significant error. Just 11 seconds after the Angloy’s goalkeeper left, the team from Nice extended their lead thanks to a goal by Michal Popelka, assisted by Kristjan Cepon. Then, with 50 seconds remaining in the game, Ondrej Kopta dashed Anglet’s hopes by scoring the fifth and final goal of the match.
Nice retains their runner-up position but…
Last night, the Eagles significantly widened their lead in the standings. They gained no less than five points, providing them a considerable cushion, especially against their opponents that night. With this strong performance, Nice is now just three points behind the leader. However, Rouen has participated in four fewer games, which is substantial when considering the lead they already hold. Undefeated since the start of the season, they will be unbeatable if they maintain this momentum.
As for the team from Nice, they continue their away games, traveling to Gap on December 20th to face the team ranked 7th. They will be back in Nice on December 30th for the last match of the year.
