Reduced to 10 at the hour mark after Schneiderlin’s expulsion, the Nice team displayed great character and managed to secure a victory against Nîmes in the final moments of the match.
At kickoff, Ursea made some changes to the starting 11 that lost to Rennes last Sunday. Bambu returned to the central defense, replacing the injured Danilo. In the midfield, Thuram took Boudaoui’s place. Finally, in attack, Rony Lopes replaced Claude-Maurice.
The match started with a bang as Amine Gouiri missed a huge opportunity, facing the goal alone. The ball skimmed the ground, passing just next to Baptiste Reynet’s post.
Next, it was Reine-Adelaïde’s turn to shine with a display on the left side. He broke through the defense, giving a nutmeg for good measure, and fired a shot from a tight angle. Reynet closed down the angle well and deflected the ball.
At halftime, the two teams were level, but Nice had appeared more dangerous near the goal.
The turning point of the match came in the 56th minute. Nice was reduced to ten men after Morgan Schneiderlin received a second yellow card and was sent off. The captain for the night left his team with a numerical disadvantage.
This exclusion led to a tactical reorganization by Ursea. The Romanian coach decided to bring on Ndoye and Claude-Maurice in place of Lopes and Kamara.
These changes proved to be effective, with young Swiss player Ndoye opening the score at the very end of the match. He capitalized on a poor assessment from the Nîmes goalkeeper on a cross, placing the ball into the far corner (85th minute).
Nîmes pushed hard to equalize, but it was ultimately Nice who sealed the win.
The second substitute, Claude-Maurice, scored alone against Reynet to secure the victory for the Gym.
Thanks to this victory, OGC Nice climbed in the standings and is now in 11th place with a game in hand.
