The twelfth day of Ligue 1 kicked off with a bang with the first defeat, in all competitions, of the Lyon “ogre” who returned from their away match at Rennes with a defeat by the narrowest of margins (1-0) and an empty point haul.
A bit later and a little further south, it was certainly with fear in their hearts that the 22 Nice and Monaco players made their appearance in a Stade Louis II repainted in red and black for a derby that could mean three more points on the scoreboard for one of the two Riviera teams, already nearly 20 points behind the top teams. A crowd of absentees on each side with Abardonado, Veigneau, and Fauconnier in the Nice infirmary, Balmont, Rool, and Varrault serving a match suspension. On the Principality side, Plasil was suspended while the injuries piled up with the unavailability of Koller, Monsoureau, Kallon, Quesnel, N’Galou, and Grax.
All the ingredients were there for a colorful derby that lived up to its promises from the stands but ultimately resulted in a bland first half between two teams tense from a seemingly too important a stake to take any risk. Added to this was the dilapidated condition of a pitch in as sad a state as its tenants, and we had to make do with a good dribble from Lloris on Vargas or a good pressing from Bellion to reach halftime with a goalless and dreadfully dull score.
The second half offered a more exciting spectacle. There’s no doubt that the scolding from Banide and Antonetti, combined with the activity of the stewards to remodel the unplayable pitch, were key elements at halftime. The game, more lively, moved from one end to the other, and Roma had to work hard to save his goal against a Koné, well served by Bellion, who saw his point-blank attempt parried by the Italian goalkeeper. Antonetti then threw a new duo into the fray, hoping it would attack. Moussilou and Traore replaced Vahirua and Bellion at the spearhead of an OGC Nice that seemed to take some control of the game.
The match picked up a bit, but dangerous chances remained rare on either side while Koné continued to weigh on the Monaco defense with his short and fast play. As the end of the match approached slowly, the draw seemed a fitting conclusion to this derby when fate dealt another blow to captain Gaël Givet’s partners, who found himself forced to commit the irreparable in his penalty area by illegally stopping Fanni. An indisputable penalty for OGC Nice, who couldn’t have asked for so much, five minutes from the end of the match.
As against Marseille a few days earlier, it was Ederson, the Nice Brazilian, who took charge of executing the sentence, but it was without counting on Flavio Roma’s talent and experience, who made a beautiful save, thus thwarting the ambitions of the “eaglets” who saw themselves returning from the “Rock” with a victory and especially three more points in the standings.
A final two-fisted save from Lloris and referee Mr. Chapron sent both teams back to the locker rooms, where the atmosphere must have been mixed, with Nice coming close to a good performance on one side and Monaco with their offensive capital as empty as their jersey still is of an official sponsor. Monaco remains at the bottom with 8 points, Nice climbs to sixteenth place with 11 points ahead of a perilous next day which will see Nice host at Ray an astonishing Sochaux team, pointing to third place in the league, and a Monaco team making a dangerous trip to Troyes for another crucial match against a fellow struggler (17th with 10 points).
A positive note, nonetheless, for Frédéric Antonetti’s men with a turnout of fans who came in large numbers to support their side and who once again played perfectly the role of the twelfth man without whom Gym’s results could be even more disappointing.
Long live the Nice tifo!
