Phew! The Gym is finally qualified for the Round of 32 of the Coupe de France, after managing to equalize and triumph during the penalty shootout (1-1, 5-3). But what a night of suffering it was, where all the traps set by the Cortenais seemed to work devilishly well, to the great misfortune of the Niçois.
Indeed, before Jonathan Clauss freed his teammates and supporters by successfully converting the last penalty, the Gym had to practice and rehearse to try and break through that nearly impregnable Cortenais wall.
Well organized and as valiant as they could be, the Corsicans played a real cup match. It was typical of the ideal we imagine for tough matches between an underdog from National 3 and a Ligue 1 giant, where all dreams are allowed, as well as nightmares for that matter.
And it was precisely this type of exhausting suspense that hovered over the Furiani stadium, minute by minute, until the very last breath of the match.
The Gym sanctioned from the start
However, everything started wonderfully, with this penalty offered by the Cortenais defense, like a Christmas gift arriving a few days early, in the 4th minute, unfortunately missed by Moroccan international Sofiane Diop. Or rather, to be fair, we should say stopped by the Cortenais goalkeeper Jacques-André Luciani, who was in a state of grace throughout the evening, thwarting a great number of the Niçois’ attempts for the entire 90 minutes. Indeed, Franck Haise’s men were blocked by a nearly unbeatable Luciani, who played a memorable match that he will recount with pictures to his children.
The nightmare grew a bit more with Christopher Boussemart‘s goal (11th) for the Corsicans, in addition to the perfectly justified expulsion of young Yaël Nandjou (39th) for an extremely dangerous tackle that sent the poor Raphaël Menozzi to the hospital.
A ray of hope signed Ndombele
The sky fortunately cleared for the Niçois in the second half, notably after a beautiful attempt by the maestro Badreddine Bouannani right in the center, clumsily repelled by the Cortenais defense, which Tanguy Ndombele followed from the right side, bringing the Gym back into the match with a deserved equalizer at the hour mark (60th), thus confirming the undisputed dominance of the Niçois, largely supported by the stats (30 shots, 17 on target, 76% possession).
Before the penalty shootout, the Niçois will remember the suffocating image of goalkeeper Luciani, kissing the ball after having saved two final dangerous attempts in the dying moments of the match.
The magic of the Coupe de France would no longer linger over the Cortenais during the penalty shootout, particularly in the last two shots: the Cortenais Perotto missed his, while the international Jonathan Clauss, without trembling, sent his team to the next round. Nice can finally breathe after this intense and stressful evening. The dream continues… The draw will be known on Sunday evening.
Nacym Djender
Reactions
Franck Haise: “It was a real cup match with all its values”
“We secured the qualification. We didn’t make things easy for ourselves, especially in the first half, missing a penalty, conceding a goal with practically their only chance from a set-piece, and having a player sent off. A logical expulsion. The scenario seemed written for the Coupe de France to live another great moment.
Fortunately, we remained clear-headed and sought the equalizer, even if we couldn’t score the second goal despite numerous chances. But we have to recognize that there was a very, very good goalkeeper on the other side!
We secured the qualification through penalties, even though we would have preferred to win another way. The important thing is to be in the next round, and I believe it was a beautiful cup match, because we experienced all the cup values, the emotions… Even if Corte was not far from advancing, because penalties are always a bit particular. It remained a real cup match until the end!”
J-P. Rivère: “Let’s only remember the qualification”
“I would first like to thank the Corte team, the managers, and all the people in the club, who received us remarkably, very amicably. I hope for their injured player, it won’t be too serious, because it’s always troubling to see a player go out like that. I went to the players’ locker room to congratulate them and to say that it was very hard for them to be eliminated from the Cup. I congratulated the goalkeeper who told me they wanted it to be a family celebration.
It went very well, we are happy with it. And for us, let’s only retain the qualification. At one point, I thought ‘It’s not possible for us to be this unlucky.’
It is evident that the European Cup is a failure. We had everything to qualify. Once again, we made mistakes, but I think that with our squad almost complete, we had more than enough to advance in Europe and to do better in the championship. We are 6th, we’re not out of it, and I am confident for the upcoming half-season.”
