For this match, Patrick Vieira decided to set up his team in a 4-4-2 formation. As always, Walter Benitez is found in goal. In defense, with Dante suspended, the central partnership is formed by Malang Sarr and Danilo. Christophe Hérelle plays on the right side and Stanley N’Soki on the left. In the midfield, Claude-Maurice, Lusamba, Lees-Melou, and Thuram are the starters. Finally, in attack, Adam Ounas makes his return to support Dolberg.
The start of the match is rather in favor of the Nice team, who manage to keep the ball in the Toulouse half. It is evident that the Gym is facing a team lacking confidence and struggling with ball distribution.
After 10 minutes of play, following a good recovery by Lusamba, he manages to pass the ball to the right side to Ounas. The Algerian finds a gap in the box for Lees-Melou, who had positioned himself well. The Nice midfielder shoots from a tight angle but manages to send the ball through the legs of the Toulouse goalkeeper, Baptiste Reynet. The Gym thus opens the scoring in this match thanks to their key player at the moment (12th minute).
Additionally, Nice benefits from a mistake by Toulouse defender Gabrielsen, who commits a foul as the last defender. The match referee then issues him a direct red card. Consequently, Nice finds itself, as against Lyon, 11 against 10 with the advantage in scoring.
However, as against Lyon, the players put themselves in jeopardy and offer hope to Téfécé. The Toulouse players take advantage of technical errors from Nice to create several chances. It takes several decisive saves by Benitez to keep his team ahead at halftime.
In the second half, Toulouse continues to push, and Nice is unable to combine effectively. Patrick Vieira then decides to replace Claude-Maurice with Ganago to push forward again, leveraging the speed of the Cameroonian.
But Nice will again benefit from a Toulouse error to find themselves 11 against 9. On a Toulouse corner, Ounas attempts to clear the ball and is stopped by Moreira, who delivers a violent kick to his lower abdomen. After VAR assistance, the referee sends off the TFC defender.
Towards the end of the match, the Gym sees their game turn on an unfavorable event. Coming off the bench, Maolida makes an avoidable tackle in the box and trips Gradel. The referee awards a penalty to Téfécé. Leya-Iseka takes the penalty, but it is stopped by Benitez, who dived correctly. Nice avoids disaster thanks to their Argentine goalkeeper.
Finally, Hérelle will secure his team definitively after a subtle backheel by Dolberg that sends the Nice right-back alone into the Toulouse box.
Thanks to this 2-0 victory, Nice glimpses European places once again and can dream of greater achievements. However, the performance displayed by the players in recent matches needs improvement to satisfy the Nice coach.
