End of series for Gym, beaten by FC Metz after a complicated match at Saint-Symphorien. The Aiglons were weakened by the very harsh expulsion of Pierre Lees-Melou.
The trip to Metz was expected to be perilous. The announcement found its continuation on the field. In the heart of a good spiral, Gym faced a bottom-ranked team looking for redemption after a defeat in Monaco. In a good dynamic, both teams clashed during the first half of the match, before the locals managed to make a difference.
Nice, set in a typical 4-3-3 formation – with Papy Mendy in front of the defense –, never managed to unsettle their host, despite a few opportunities in the first 45 minutes.
If Lucien Favre’s team never wavered during the first half, they appeared dangerous but failed to drive the stake into the heart of the Grenats.
Mario Balotelli lacked a bit of precision on a pass from Pierre Lees-Melou (26’), Bassem Srarfi was thwarted by a good return from Niakhaté (33’), then by an impeccable save from Kawashima (35’). The Aiglons quickly got the feeling of “having missed their chance” and never had the momentum to counter it. This impression was further strengthened by a harsh decision from Mr. Hamel shortly before the break, who decided to send off Pierre Lees-Melou for dangerous play on Milicevic.
Without having been worried, Gym had to play 45 minutes in numerical inferiority. It took them 5 to find themselves in great difficulty. Without changing their organization, they were stung at the start of the second half. Following a contentious recovery on Bassem Srarfi, Nolan Roux set off from the right, cut inside, and struck across goal, leaving Benitez no chance (0-1, 50’). Hit, injured, Lucien Favre’s group bent under the first local barrage.
They had to rely on a penalty from Super Mario to get out of trouble. Temporarily. Restless, Srarfi – the most in-form Nice player of the night – was brought down by Niakhaté in the box, and the great Italian took justice into his own hands, for his team. Despite a penalty saved by Kawashima, he volleyed the ball into the net to level the score (1-1, 62’).
The Nice team didn’t have time to savor: Nolan Roux scored a brace by finishing off a cross from Mollet within 6 yards (2-1, 62’).
Srarfi missed the target with his right foot after leaving everyone behind (70’), and things began to look bad for the men from the Côte. They lacked both the resilience and the legs to make up their deficit.
The fine series of Gym thus ended on the field of the bottom-ranked team. The group’s task now is to recover next Saturday, when they host Toulouse.
WORDS, WORDS…
LUCIEN FAVRE: “We had a relatively good start to the match. We could have scored a goal. We had a great chance which we should have reacted to quicker. On a few balls, we should have done better to create chances. The red card? It’s a bit surprising… I don’t think there was a red card there… no, something like that is not possible. With one man down, what can you do? It’s complicated, you can’t press, you have to wait for them. It was the only possible solution at 0-0. Metz played with wingers, so switching to a three-man defense was not possible for us. At 10 against 11, it wasn’t too bad, we came back to 1-1. What bothers me is conceding the 2-1 too quickly after that.”
DANTE: “The expulsion changed everything. It’s unfortunate for us. It’s up to us to keep working. It’s a shame, I think we started the match well. We had chances. It happens, we need to raise our heads and keep working. We were coming off a good run, despite that, we wanted to take 3 points tonight (Saturday). The red card changed things a bit, but we mustn’t blame Pierre. It’s like that, we need to look ahead.”
NAMPALYS MENDY: “We came here with the intention of being conquering, taking the 3 points, and in the end, we’re leaving with 0 points: everyone is disappointed,” concluded the defensive midfielder. “If we had been 11, the game wouldn’t have been the same. They took advantage of their numerical superiority and scored their goals. Despite being down to 10, we managed to stay organized, we didn’t give up, we created chances, we scored. It’s a shame there were incidents against us. With 10 players, there were many waves, even if there are two fouls on the 2 goals… It’s a shame that refereeing errors have consequences on the score. But errors are human, we need to move on and prepare for Saturday’s match.”
