OGC Nice narrowly lost this afternoon against AS Saint-Etienne (0-1) following a goal by Charles Abi in the final minutes.
NGC Nice can’t seem to string victories together. At home, Adrian Ursea’s players delivered a very disappointing performance. They faltered in the last minutes of the match.
From the start of the game, the Eaglets decided to take control. The goal was to keep possession, be patient during transitions, and then attempt to destabilize the Verts’ defense. It took 20 minutes for an opportunity to arise, and it was for the visitors. On a counter-attack, Hamouma connected with a cross from Nordin, but his shot went over Benitez’s goal. Nice, maintaining the same pace from the start of the match, created a few chances in the last ten minutes of the first half. Amine Gouiri and Jeff Reine-Adelaïde tried to make the difference, but both of their shots went wide of Jessy Moulin’s goal. Despite a very calm start, the game picked up slightly after the half-hour mark, but neither Benitez nor Moulin had to make any significant claims.
After Amine Gouiri’s curled shot, @jreineadelaide sees his effort go just wide of the post. The Gym is pushing before halftime! #OGCNASSE (0-0)
— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) January 31, 2021
Apathetic Nice
Returning from the locker room, the Gym was transparent. Completely absent offensively. Dolberg and Gouiri didn’t impact the match. Two chances nonetheless for the home side. The first was for Daniliuc (60th), whose shot skimmed past the Verts’ goal. Then, Kasper Dolberg from a free-kick was denied by Jessy Moulin (65th), who captured the ball without much difficulty. After that, OGCN started to back off, refusing to play. Bouanga missed a header while he was completely alone in the box (75th). ASSE pressed more and more towards the end of the match, and the Azuréens struggled to restart properly. By continuously backing off, Nice eventually cracked. Trauco received the ball on the left, his completely missed shot was picked up by Charles Abi, who pushed the ball into the back of the net (88th). The Verts sealed the score of this match.
⚽️ At the reception of a powerful cross from Trauco, Abi opens the scoring for @ASSEofficiel. #OGCNASSE 0️⃣-1️⃣ (88′)
— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) January 31, 2021
A very disappointing performance from Adrian Ursea’s players. Following this defeat, Nice is 13th in the Ligue 1 standings and will travel to Monaco on Wednesday.
