Although dominating for more than an hour, the Aiglons were caught off guard twice in five minutes and saw a controlled match slip away from them.
While the Aiglons soar in Ligue 1 at the end of the first half of the season, the Red and Black do not favor Cups this season, for which they admittedly were not fortunate with the draw. After a 3-2 exit at Bordeaux in the Coupe de la Ligue, Lucien Favre’s team was eliminated from the Coupe de France at the Moustoir stadium by a Lorient team they had largely dominated for an hour.
Despite several key player absences (Baysse, Dante, Seri, Belhanda, Balotelli), the Nice team imposed their usual style in the first half: ball possession, quick advancement with one or two touches. Wylan Cyprien remained as precise as ever on set-pieces, but Benjamin Lecomte made a spectacular save (30th minute). After two offside duels (one successful, one missed), Alassane Plea opened the scoring just before halftime with a good cross from Marcel. The Gym’s top scorer perfectly placed his header in the bottom corner (43rd minute). A goal at the best moment, just two minutes after a Marveaux shot hit the post, which Benitez seemed nonetheless capable of intercepting.
A moment of confusion…
Returning from the locker room, the Aiglons could have extended their lead, but Plea was blocked (46th minute) and then missed the target following a favorable rebound (60th minute). Completely dominating for an hour, the Red and Black seemed to run out of steam for the game’s end and retreated. While Walter Benitez reassured his defense in the air (66th minute), he was first saved by a desperate tackle from Souquet (68th minute) before venturing far from his goal. Aliadière got to the ball first and managed to equalize in the empty net despite the tight angle (71st minute). Stunned, the Nice team was knocked out three minutes later when Mesloub slipped between Sarr and Dalbert and headed (then kneed…) a cross from the left.
Trailing against the run of play, despite introducing their attacking assets Bosetti and Mahou, the Gym did not have a real opportunity to equalize and exited the competition upon their entry into it.
They must now focus on the championship with the upcoming visit of FC Metz next Sunday at Allianz Riviera.
The stat: 5
That’s the number of minutes it took Lorient to overturn the Aiglons. Five minutes of weakness that were enough for the Merlus.
Lucien Favre’s reaction:
“That’s how it is. We’re disappointed because we dominated the first half. They changed their system in the second half, reverting to a 4-3-3 because they noticed it was too easy for us. We might have needed to make it 2-0 before. Then we conceded the 1-1, which gave them a boost, that’s clear, but that’s how it is. We had to defend well when they pushed at the beginning of the second half. We didn’t do two or three things as we should have.”
Maxime Le Marchand’s reaction:
“We’re disappointed and frustrated because we wanted to go far in this competition. The Lorient players closed us down well in the middle, and perhaps we didn’t play wide enough. In the second half, we managed their offensives less effectively, and they took advantage. They might have been hungrier in certain areas, even though we were well-prepared.”
