Ligue 1: OGC Nice and FC Lorient neutralize each other in a goalless match

This Saturday, OGC Nice hosted Lorient as part of Ligue 1’s opening day. The two teams parted with a blank draw (0-0). 

After finishing 16th last season, the Nice team had to find new momentum and prove that their place is in Ligue 1. A mindset to be acquired from this opening match against an impressive FC Lorient from last season under the orders of Olivier Pantaloni, now at the helm of the Gym.

In this first match dedicated to the memory of Eric Roy, the Corsican manager set up his usual 3-4-3 formation. Young Junior Mandza (17 years old), impressive in preparation, was lined up from the start in defense. In midfield, Everton Pereira was preferred to Issiaga Camara. The Eagles coach had also trusted Gauthier Hein, in an attacking trio completed by Sofian Diop and Zoumana Diallo. Jonathan Clauss wore the captain’s armband.

The stat : Lorient has not won on Nice soil since April 2014 (1-2). 

A lively start, but lacking efficiency

After a ten-minute observation period where the Lorient players were better positioned. Théo Le Bris centred dangerously from the right towards Koné, who failed to touch the ball. Nice did not give up: in the 14th minute, Sofiane Diop took advantage of a slip by Kouassi in his box to shoot at Mvogo. This was followed by another chance where the shots from Gauthier Hein and Jonathan Clauss ended up blocked by the Breton defense.

But beware of resting on your laurels. In the 21st minute, Coulibaly lost a dangerous ball in front of his box, which Makengo recovered and sent a few centimetres from the top corner. Yehvann Diouf followed with another distribution error. Fortunately for him, he made up for it with a fine save in front of Bernardeau. Just before half-time, Everton Pereira thought he had opened the scoring after a deflection from a corner, but a foul was whistled on Cadiou.

« We scared ourselves, but that’s our game. Up front, we have the chances, it’s just small details to sort out to put them away », reassured Antoine Mendy on Ligue 1+ microphone.

A second half less generous

Upon returning from the dressing room, the momentum of the match completely changed. The two teams dozed off on each other for long spells. At the hour mark, Noah Cadiou and then Mamadou Koné ran into the Eagles keeper in a well-executed sequence.

The new striker Nathan Ngoumou, who came on during the match, had his chance. In the 83rd minute, he tried to carve out a shooting angle in the box, but it was blocked again. The last scare came in added time, on a good cross, the Lorient striker Tosin unleashed a powerful header just over the bar of Yehvann Diouf.

For Sofiane Diop, one area for improvement concerns ball distribution, often clumsy today: « We must not give ammunition to our opponents every weekend. »

It has now been six consecutive seasons that the Gym has not won their opening match… Next week, Nice will travel to the capital to face Paris FC. The match will take place Sunday 30 August at 3 p.m.