Handball: cold shower for OGC Nice against the Metz giant

Away at the Metz leader for the 3rd day of Butagaz Energy League, OGC Nice Handball experienced a true show of force. Completely overwhelmed, the Azurean players suffered a heavy defeat (41-19).

As last year on the Metz Handball pitch, the hurdle was far too high and the mistakes from the previous match were repeated from the opening whistle. Almost a week after their defeat against Saint-Amand, the Nice players wanted to turn things around and resume their forward march. But facing the reigning European champions, the Eaglets had to lie low.

Lacking rhythm from the opening moments, Sébastien Mizoule’s players quickly found themselves asphyxiated by the intensity imposed by the Dragons. Unable to establish their game and overwhelmed by the speed of the opposition’s execution, they suffered the full force of the Metz players’ attacks, never managing to react to the relentless pace set by the league leaders.

Metz stuns Nice in the first half

Metz delivered a true show of force in the first half against Nice, building a crushing 24-7 advantage by halftime (+17). The Nice players had a completely poor start to the match, penalized from the first minute with a two-minute temporary exclusion and trailing 3-0 after five minutes of play. Battered by Metz’s defensive aggressiveness, coach Sébastien Mizoule’s players, without solutions such as Ehsan Abdelmalek, chained together turnovers, shots hitting the posts and failures against the opposing goalkeeper, such as the missed 7-meter throws by Marine Dupuis (2/4).

Metz punished every mistake by intercepting countless balls and executing surgical transition play. Too passive in defense and unable to capitalize on their rare chances, the Eaglets went to halftime completely overwhelmed by the pace set by the league leaders.

More of the same in the second half

Halftime was not enough to stop the bleeding. After the restart, the story repeated itself, and in less than two minutes, Metz drove home the point to make it 26-8, restarting on exactly the same ultra-dominant basis as in the first half. Still as ferocious on the counterattack, the Metz players increased their lead without effort against Azurean opponents who were shaky defensively and constantly caught out of position.

Even a lengthy game interruption of at least five minutes, caused by a technical problem with the scoreboard in the hall, failed to break the momentum of the home side. After this unexpected break, Marine Dupuis did manage to convert her 7-meter throw, 35-14, but the score grew heavier until the final whistle, (41-19). Metz wins by a margin of 22 goals, sealing a demonstration that was decided from the first half, and inflicts on OGC Nice its second defeat of the season for just one victory.

The Nice players will have the chance to bounce back as early as next week during the 4th day of the championship. OGC Nice Handball will travel to face Strasbourg Achenheim Truchtersheim on Wednesday, September 16 at 8 p.m., at the Kochersberg Sports Center. A crucial match to react and get back on track.