OGC Nice secured a victory last night on their home turf against Montpellier by the narrowest of margins: 1-0. The club from the Côte d’Azur finishes the first half of the championship in 5th place.
This won’t be remembered as one of the highlights of the 2015-2016 season. For their last match of the year, OGC Nice nonetheless won, thereby giving statistical weight to their strong start to the season in terms of gameplay. With 29 points at the break, the Gym has reason to be satisfied, even if their record could have been more flattering with a touch of luck.
Without being brilliant, the red and blacks won 3 points, which are as valuable as those bravely earned against Saint-Etienne or Rennes. However, this victory feels good, especially since it’s their first since November 20th.
The start of the match wasn’t perfect, far from it. Both teams played defensively low, and although the intention for quick transitions was palpable on both sides, technical mistakes and tension were equally evident. The defensive formations were too deep to allow for real gameplay.
In such conditions, the best chances early in the game came from set pieces. Ben Arfa for Nice and Boudebouz for Montpellier tried to find their teammates. In the 16th minute, from an in-swinging corner, Boudebouz hit the crossbar—the biggest chance of the first half for the Harault side.
A goal and not much more
But it was Nice that opened the scoring at the half-hour mark. Pionnier struggled to clear an otherwise weak shot from Koziello, pushing the ball directly to Boscagli, who simply had to put his foot in the way.
The Niçois had just scored their 32nd goal of the season, the only one of the evening since the rest of the match was rather uneventful. There was a corner from Ben Arfa onto Baysse’s head in the 56th minute that threatened Courbis’s men. Pionnier made a crucial save.
A quarter of an hour later, it was Montpellier’s turn to come close to scoring. Breaking through the defense, Roussillon accelerated, got past Cardinale, and managed to angle his shot toward the goal. Baysse cleared it off the line.
“We all need this break,” said Roland Courbis, visibly dejected, at the press conference. Despite the victory, the Niçois would likely agree. The team appeared tired from a demanding start to the season. No matter, Nice sits in 5th place, and the physical fatigue will likely weigh less on their minds than the satisfaction of their position.
