The Gym secured a second victory in three days by defeating the bottom team (3-1). Despite the flattering score, Nice was not brilliant. But the three points are enough.
The opportunity to climb the rankings was a good one. Nice seized it in the cold of a winter Saturday. In a biting atmosphere at the Allianz, not everything was perfect, but the essentials were secured, thanks to goals from Plea, Balotelli, and Saint-Maximin, who formed the offensive trio of the 4-3-3 lineup concocted by Lucien Favre at kickoff.
With Tameze as the anchor, Seri and Lees-Melou as the midfielders, the option seemed resolutely offensive and aimed at breaking down the bottom team. They lined up in a solid 4-3-3, played high up the pitch, left spaces behind, but did not fall apart. On the contrary, they showed coherence, despite the defeat.
During the first half of the match, the Red and Blacks first had timid opportunities, but the finishing touch was missing to complete some beautiful team movements. Plea, who started on the left and cut inside regularly, did not strike his first attempt hard enough (4’), and overshot his second (16’). Balotelli, perfectly set up by the previously mentioned number 14, saw his outside-of-the-foot shot deflected by Kawashima (10’) and his inside shot blocked by the same goalkeeper (26’). The possession and the attacks held promise for the best.
This promise was quickly realized, as the first sparks eventually started a nice fire. On a superb move initiated by St-Maximin, Souquet sped down the right side like a bullet, entered the box, took his time, then served Plea with a cut-back. After his first shot was deflected by Balliu, the native of Ascq remained calm, controlled, and crossed his left-footed shot in an unassailable manner (1-0, 26’).
The hardest part seemed done. The path to success was laid out. However, a collective lapse in concentration, two minutes after taking the lead, erased the local advantage. Renaud Cohade delivered a brilliant cross onto Nolan Roux’s head, whose header left Benitez with no chance (1-1, 28’), and everything had to be redone. Some long-range attempts from Metz also showed that the threat was never far away.
WINNING DEFLECTIONS
A dangerous strike from Niane, right after the break, well parried by Benitez, confirmed it. Just like an incident where Marlon destabilized Roux in the Nice box, but the game went on. Troubled by their visitor, Nice relied on their star to regain the lead. Although he did not have his best game, Super Mario eventually delivered on a 25-meter free kick, struck over the wall, whose path was altered by Niakhate’s elbow (2-1, 56’).
The recent challenging period likely left some scars – which will only fade with time and points – the advantage did not allow the locals to play “freely”. As a result, the players from Metz believed in their chances for a long time. They attacked in a disordered manner, but they attacked nonetheless.
The tension truly subsided when Allan Saint-Maximin put an end to the suspense. On a run, the winger sought a duel with Assou-Ekotto, moved aside, and struck with his right. Deflected by the Cameroonian defender, his shot ended in Kawashima’s side netting (3-1, 71’).
From then on, the Eagles could calmly head towards their second victory of the week. A victory that helps them distance themselves from the relegation zone and re-enter the mid-table.
WORDS, WORDS…
Lucien Favre: Tonight, it’s enough for me. It’s a relief. We’ve secured 6 points, 2 victories. It feels good. But we are aware of other things. Metz had chances, but in their last 4-5 matches I watched, they’ve also had chances, except against Marseille where they only had one big one. Tonight they didn’t have many, but what bothers me is the goal we conceded. We saw it coming. We exposed ourselves to them, got countered, there was a cross and we found ourselves outnumbered in the box.
Pierre Lees-Melou: It’s positive. We aimed to get 6 points this week, and we did. Even if the manner wasn’t exactly what we wanted, we won’t be negative. Now, we keep working and look towards Thursday’s match and then the one in Nantes. We’ve had 2 consecutive victories, but we’re not going to say we’ll finish in the top 3. We’re doing better, but we still fall back too much when we score, we need to fix that. We need to be more aggressive to try and kill the matches and not be afraid until the last second. But there is some positive.
