Carried by a high-quality performance and a hat-trick from Elye Wahi, OGC Nice triumphed over Stade Rennais (5-2). Facing a European contender, the Gym struck a major blow this Friday night at the Allianz Riviera.
Has OGC Nice finally found its cruising speed? After their victory against Brest (2-1), last weekend in a thrilling match with suspense until the final minute, the Eagles have the opportunity to consolidate their place in the Ligue 1 Top 10 this Friday against Rennes. If the match was supposed to take place later in the weekend, it was moved up due to several demonstrations being held in the Azure city on Saturday.
On the lineup side, Olivier Pantaloni favors the in-form players at the moment. Author of a decisive entry against Brest, Sofiane Diop is preferred to Gautier Hein alongside Mohammed Amoura and Elye Wahi. At the back, Junior Mandza makes his return to the Nice starting eleven. Axel Witsel, meanwhile, did not appear on the match sheet for this encounter.
Hat-trick for Wahi
While Rennes were trying to set the pace at the start of the match, the first opportunity of the encounter fell to Elye Wahi. Face-to-face, the Ivorian international was caught and blocked on the line by Aït Boudlal. The number 11 of OGC Nice would finally be rewarded a few minutes later (1-0, 12′). Brought down in the box by a hasty save from Lemaître, the Gym’s striker took justice into his own hands from the penalty spot. An ideal start to the match for the Gym? Not quite, as Rennes equalized immediately through Szymanski (1-1, 15′). Everything had to be redone for Olivier Pantaloni’s men.
Rennes’ equalizer did merit not dealing a blow to the morale of Sofiane Diop’s teammates. OGC Nice intensified the pressure and posed a threat to the opposing goal. The Gym obtained another penalty. This time, Jonathan Clauss was stopped illegally by a Breton player. That was enough for Elye Wahi to score a brace this evening (2-1, 34′). Two penalties, two perfect spot-kicks for the Nice player, full of composure in the exercise. Just before halftime, the Eagles secured the win thanks to a sublime Jonathan Clauss chip (3-1, 45′), the in-house specialist of chips under the crossbar. A goal and a break that rewarded a very good first forty-five minutes from the Gym.
An effective and creative OGC Nice
Leading on the score, the Eagles no longer needed to dominate play in this early second half. The fourth goal for OGC Nice was the perfect illustration of Olivier Pantaloni’s men’s performance this evening: an action that started from Nice’s camp, combinations, runs in depth, and this time Mohammed Amoura in the role of scorer (4-1, 52′). In an action-packed match, it wasn’t going to stop there. After a foul by Niels Nkounkou in the red and black box, Rennes reduced the deficit from a Boulaye Dia penalty (4-2, 58′). Be careful not to revive the Bretons, who have been struggling since the start of the evening at the Allianz Riviera.
After this Breton goal, Rennes pushed and laid siege to the Azure camp. OGC Nice fell back and could breathe a big sigh of relief after Nagida’s goal was disallowed for offside from the start of the play. In these circumstances, Elye Wahi’s hat-trick (5-2, 74′) came at just the right moment. Opportunistic, the Nice striker was on the end of a move initiated by a poor clearance from Rennes’ defense. The last tensions in the air had left the pitch. The Gym won for the second successive time in Ligue 1 and temporarily rose to 7th place in the championship before the other matches of the day.
Next match next Sunday, November 8 for OGC Nice. For the 10th matchday of Ligue 1, the Eagles will travel to Angers. Kick-off is scheduled for 17:15.
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