Held by a weak Lille team, the Gym let two important points slip away. However, they will spend the holidays comfortably in sixth place. Something that seemed unattainable nearly a month ago.
Lucien Favre’s men could have secured their 5th consecutive victory in Ligue 1 Conforama thanks to their first-half performance. But victory eluded them in the second half. They will still spend the holidays warm, wrapped in the thick blanket of points they have woven over the past few weeks.
At the halfway point, they have repositioned themselves in the top half of the table, in 6th place, 6 points behind Nantes (5th).
On Wednesday night, they built their advantage by adopting the right attitude. That of a team renewed by the suspension of Balotelli (numerically replaced by Srarfi, with Plea taking the central position) and two changes (Tameze for Mendy and Sarr for Marlon), but just as determined as last Sunday not to let the wounded beast (Lille after Bordeaux) rise again.
To keep the Northerners in their current torments, the Eagles gave them no respite. Pressing them very high to take the ball and test Maignan. The goalkeeper stretched out against Srarfi (22nd) and Seri (43rd), and could have conceded the opening goal from a Plea attempt served by the Tunisian following a burst by Saint-Maximin in the same vein as at the Stadium (37th).
The keeper eventually conceded, logically, on Srarfi’s second attack with the ball shortly before the break. Alert and inspired, the number 11 carved out a regal path with a piece of skill more than 40 meters from the goal, to face him and score his second goal of the season, with a powerful left-footed shot slightly deflected by Soumaoro’s heel (0-1, 38th).
Unfortunately, the Niçois made the mistake of showing less determination at the beginning of the second half, lulled by the mocking “olés” directed at their team by the Lille crowd. Awaiting a devastating counter and after a clumsy effort at the edge of the box, they ceded more play to their hosts. And for not having “killed the game” earlier, they found themselves, indeed, vulnerable to a “bad” blow. El Ghazi, in turn, delivering it with a pivot on a cross from Ponce in front of Dante at the 68th minute (1-1).
After losing their stride like that, it was not easy to regain it in time to win. At the very least, they needed to hold onto the draw, containing the rejuvenated Dogues. It was not without difficulty. But fortunately without a final clash.
At halftime, there was a sense of regret that the break would interrupt Nice’s momentum. Forty-five minutes later, at the end of their 30th official match of the season (!), the sentiment was naturally less strong. The forthcoming two weeks will be welcome. To recharge the batteries and start off 2018 in the best way, now that the Gym is back on track and remains one of the only two French teams (along with Paris SG) engaged on four fronts.
Before the end of the year, you will find, starting next week, a report on the first part of the Gym’s season, as well as a review of the year 2017, on Nice Premium.
WORDS, WORDS…
DANTE: “Today it feels like 2 points lost. It’s a shame, we had control of the match for a long time. When you drop points, you need to learn from the lesson. You have to kill the game and not let the opponent bounce back. We lacked focus and concentration. We need rest but must already concentrate on the return matches. I am always demanding, but taking 13 points from the last 5 matches shows that we made a great climb in the rankings, and it also proves that we have character. We need to maintain the same mindset, the same mentality for the upcoming matches, as there will be many starting in January. We must all be concentrated and ready right away.”
MAXIME LE MARCHAND: The Lillois came higher up after the break, and we let them play a bit. It’s a shame. In the first half, we wanted to keep the ball and take our time. Afterward, we played too directly and lost too many balls, giving them back confidence. There might have been some letting go on our part. We need to quickly analyze this to avoid repeating these errors in the second part of the season.
