Team Presentation
For this opening match of the 13th day of Ligue 1 Conforama, OGC Nice (13th) welcomed Girondins de Bordeaux (6th).
Bordeaux, who defeated FC Nantes in the previous matchday, traveled to the French Riviera with a lot of confidence after two consecutive victories without conceding a single goal in all competitions.
On the other hand, OGC Nice aimed to continue their streak after winning against Reims last Sunday at the Allianz Riviera. The club saw two very important returns to the squad for this match. Adam Ounas, returning after more than a month and a half of absence (his last match being a 3-1 defeat at Monaco on September 24, 2019) and Stanley N’Soki, the former Parisian, occupying the left side of the defense for this game.
A victory would allow the Eagles to reposition themselves in the upper half of the table. Meanwhile, Bordeaux could temporarily take the second place behind Paris, pending the weekend matches.
Match Facts
The first half-hour of the match is dominated by Nice, who manage to recover the ball in the opponent’s area. Danilo, Cyprien, and Lees-Melou disrupt the Bordeaux midfield and make multiple runs to intercept Bordeaux’s passes.
The Algerian right side consisting of Youcef Atal and Adam Ounas combine perfectly and stretch Bordeaux’s very compact three-man defense.
At the end of this strong period, Nice manages to open the scoring through Pierre Lees-Melou. After a good combination in midfield between Dolberg, Danilo, and Cyprien, the latter finds a shift on the right side for Atal, who, unmarked, delivers a precise cross on Lees-Melou’s head. He, alone at the near post, places an unstoppable header past Costil. OGC Nice takes the lead (26th minute).
Immediately after, Nice creates another huge opportunity. After a wild run from Atal from his half, covering the whole field, he finds Ounas on his side. The Algerian moves inwards and manages to deliver a laser pass between two defenders to Kasper Dolberg. The Danish international, alone against the keeper but at a very tight angle, shoots a cross which Costil deflects. The chance to extend the lead is missed (28th minute).
In the last quarter-hour of the first half, Bordeaux rebounds and takes control of the match. Benitez, once again brilliant, makes several saves to fend off attacks from Paulo Sousa’s players (38th, 39th, 42nd minutes).
At halftime, OGC Nice is ahead in score, showing a very low possession percentage (36%) but a much higher shot accuracy than the opposing team (75% of shots on target for Nice compared to 33% for Bordeaux).
Upon returning for the second half, Patrick Vieira decides to make a tactical change. Seeing his very offensive right side, he decides to bring on Burner in place of Ganago to block Bordeaux’s attacks on the side of the Algerian duo. Atal thus shifts to an unusual role, but one he has played several times this season, that of a left attacker.
This change does not bear fruit as, two minutes after play resumes, Kamano goes one-on-one against Stanley N’Soki in the box. The Bordeaux player manages to dribble, and the Nice defender sticks out a leg. Kamano goes down in the area, and the referee points to the penalty spot. Briand takes the penalty and manages to place the ball in the bottom corner, unstoppable for Benitez, who went the right way.
The remainder of the second half is in Bordeaux’s favor as they maintain possession and create a few chances, though with no real threat.
The introduction of Myziane Maolida will not change a thing; Nice can only concede a draw against this valiant Bordeaux team. The draw is quite logical given the performances of both teams, which each had their strong moments.
However, the draw does not help anyone as Nice finds themselves in 10th place with 17 points and could already be distanced from the teams competing for Europe. Meanwhile, Bordeaux, in 3rd place with 19 points, could be overtaken by several teams by the end of this matchday.
