The Aiglons were defeated in Amiens on the 26th day of L1 (1-0). Quickly behind, Nice never managed to catch up, even though they showed a better side in the second half.
Deprived of many players at kickoff, including captain Dante (suspended), Patrick Vieira fielded a very youthful starting eleven, set up in a 4-3-3 formation. Andy Pelmard (on the left of the defense) and Maxime Pélican, up front, started their first Ligue 1 match.
From the start, Amiens pressed high and troubled the Gym. A fine save from Benitez on a Guirassy shot is noteworthy in the first ten minutes.
But immediately after, from a textbook play, Konaté perfectly served Guirassy, on the verge of offside. The forward only had to adjust his shot to beat Benitez (1-0, 11th minute).
Lees-Melou had a notable attempt just after, with a shot just over the bar, but the Gym lacked offensive efficiency.
At the restart, Benitez was once again decisive and held the fort. Later, Saint-Maximin made a run down the right flank and offered a pass to Makengo who scored with a slide tackle… but the goal was disallowed for a Saint-Maximin offside at the beginning of the move.
In the last quarter of an hour, the Gym posed one last threat on a corner, but it was not enough to trouble the home side. Nice concluded its February with a third defeat in three away games. This defeat leaves the Gym in ninth place in the championship.
PATRICK VIEIRA’S REACTION
“We lacked aggression with the ball, we didn’t take enough risks, we didn’t know how to create an overload, and unfortunately, it was difficult for us to play. Amiens is a very good team, very athletic, well organized: it was challenging physically. We will continue to work. We must stay positive, review this second half where we did very good things, and try to understand why we struggled like that before halftime.”
CHRISTOPHE HÉRELLE’S REACTION
“We woke up too late. If we played the whole match like we did in the second half, I don’t think we would have lost. We lacked aggression. We knew they would be aggressive in duels, we should have been too. We showed good things in ball usage, but that’s not enough.”
WALTER BENITEZ’S REACTION
“It’s difficult for us to lose in matches like this where we have a lot of possession. Tonight was a bit special because some youngsters had their first professional start. We couldn’t find the spaces, and even if we have good players, it’s complicated to score goals. There are moments like this that are difficult. We will lift our heads and get back to work because there are matches left, and we want to go as far as possible. We will play the next match at home (next Sunday against Strasbourg), it will be important to do everything to take the 3 points.”
