It was Christmas early in Nice tonight. Lacking defensive confidence, the Nice team couldn’t hope for much in this 5th day of the Europa League.
With six young players listed on the match sheet, OGC Nice was rejuvenating tonight. No surprises in the starting eleven even if Youssouf Ndayishimiye and Abdelmonem Mohamed were finally in the central defense. Franck Haise concocted a 4-1-3-2 formation in which Pablo Rosariot was acting as the fifth defender in the defensive phase. In the attack, Gaëtan Laborde and Youssoufa Moukoko were positioned at the forefront supported by Badreddine Bouanani. The only surprise was the presence of Issiaga Camara (19 years old) who made his second appearance in the Europa League.
The first opportunity was Scottish from the first minute. Nice recovered balls and played on the counterattack. Badreddine Bouanani, well served by Tom Louchet, tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area but his shot went just wide. A few seconds later, Nice was back in the Rangers’ penalty area, struggling to clear. The referee whistles for a penalty for a foul and two potential handballs but he reverses his decision after consulting the VAR. A turning point in this match. Because the game then heated up. Glasgow was close to opening the score again with a well-defended counterattack…
Unfortunately, Youssouf Ndayishimiye, captain for the night, had to give up his place shortly after fifteen minutes of play. Uncertain before the match, he was replaced by young Yael Nandjou making his first appearance as a starter with the pros. It was from this moment that Nice started to suffer on each offensive action from the visitors. The intensity dropped a bit. Although the young Senegalese remained almost blameless, his teammates could not say the same. The Gym kept making defensive blunders that proved fatal. In the 35th minute, Vaclav Cerny took advantage of a poor clearance by Mohamed Abdelmonem. His shot was deflected by two defenders and fooled Marcin Bulka, who had not been challenged until then.
The crushing blow
Two minutes later, a repeat error, but this time between Pablo Rosario, who had taken the captain’s armband, and the Polish goalkeeper. A miscommunication and Mohammed Diomande’s cross ended up in the net. A comical goal symptomatic of the defensive difficulties of OGC Nice. The Aiglons tried to react a bit before halftime but Gaëtan Laborde’s header, well unmarked in front, was stopped by Jack Butland.
At that point, it seemed possible the game could still turn around. Except Nice conceded another goal to the Rangers in the first half’s added time. Mohamed Abdelmonem misjudged his pass. Marcin Bulka came out and was beaten by Hamza Igamane, who recovered the ball and scored in the empty net. Nice was passive in this first act and needed to regroup to hope for anything. But at (0-3), it was difficult to hope. Only a miracle could reverse the situation.
The festival continues
Just like in the first half, the Nice team created two good chances stopped by Jack Butland, but this bright period was short-lived. Pablo Rosario made another mistake and gifted a second goal to Hamza Igamane (0-4). The Rangers didn’t need to exert too much effort and relied on counterattacks in the remaining 35 minutes. As the already sparse stadium gradually emptied due to the Gym’s numerous defensive errors, there wasn’t much left to say. However, it’s worth noting the beautiful free-kick completed by Badreddine Bouanani (1-4 in the 83rd minute).
With this defeat, the first for Nice this season at home, the Gym found itself second to last (35th) with just two points while the Rangers had secured at least a playoff spot with ten points. There’s a hope for the return of some key players by Sunday for the game in Lyon. A different performance will be necessary to maintain the good ranking achieved in the championship. As for the Europa League, things are now looking very complicated…
