Dominant throughout the entire 90 minutes, the Aiglons have perfectly kick-started their month of April. They take advantage of Nantes’ defeat to climb to the fifth place.
Although the defeat against PSG two weeks ago interrupted the Aiglons’ winning streak, the quality of the performance delivered by the Red and Black against the future French champions was not enough to question the form of Lucien Favre’s men.
The Swiss coach made only one change to his starting lineup for this match in Aube, with Marlon starting in central defense instead of Malang Sarr. The Nice team thus secured their 13th Ligue 1 win, which was undisputed, as they appeared far superior to their opponents.
However, although Alassane Pléa opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a superb strike, the Red and Black only managed to secure their lead in the 83rd minute, through that same Pléa. The Nice number 14, who scored a quartet in Guingamp earlier this month, could have even completed a hat-trick if he hadn’t been interrupted by a whistle signaling the end of the match as he faced Zelazny!
Between the two goals from the Nice striker, who scored his 11th and 12th Ligue 1 goals of the season on this Sunday, the Azureans multiplied the chances without being able to make a breakthrough. They sometimes came up against a good Zelazny (Plea 15′, 48′, or 54′, Lees-Melou 70′), lacked precision (Saint-Maximin, 60′), or missed unmissable chances like Seri in front of the open goal after a brilliant pass from the ubiquitous Plea (23′). Add to that two disallowed goals, the first to Plea for an offside by a few centimeters (28′) after a superb backheel by Balotelli, and a second to Balotelli for an… imaginary offside (31′).
On a bad day, these are alarming signals and a prelude to many regrets, but ESTAC seemed too far from the Gym’s level to get back into the game, despite a slightly improved second half from the locals, who only worried Benitez with a late shot from Pelé at the hour mark.
This victory allows the Aiglons to catch up with FC Nantes, who were heavily beaten at home by St Etienne (0-3), and Stade Rennais, who will play their postponed match against Monaco on Wednesday. The Bretons will travel to Allianz Riviera four days later for a crucial encounter for Europa League qualification.
WYLAN CYPRIEN’S REACTION
“We didn’t manage to secure the lead quickly enough, and we gave them several opportunities to come back. We were a bit lucky because they were quite clumsy in front of the goal. We also were: with a little more precision, we could have done better. But the result was crucial, even if we can improve the way we play. We were keen to bounce back well after the defeat against PSG despite our good match. It’s mission accomplished. Now, we must work on what didn’t go right this afternoon, to prepare for the reception of Rennes.”
LUCIEN FAVRE’S REACTION
“We had a lot of chances, more than we usually do, and more than Troyes usually concedes. Troyes struggled today. We had 6-7 big chances in the game; that’s the positive side, even if we need to be more realistic. If we want to be demanding, we can see that we also lost the ball too easily in dangerous areas, giving Troyes ammunition, and at 1-0, we were always at risk of a 1-1. We scored the 2-0 at the end, which was well deserved.”
