Despite being without Koné and Laslandes, the task might have seemed daunting for the Nice team, reeling from a significant home defeat to their Monégasque neighbors. It was Ederson who proved most threatening at the start of the match, delivering a powerful shot in the opening minutes, but Ramé, well-positioned, nullified the Brazilian’s efforts. The former Nice player was the first to be cautioned in the match. Nice and Bordeaux were evenly matched, with locals Cavenaghi and Bellion, and Nice’s Hellebuyck and Ederson, seeming to be above an otherwise pleasant level of play. Cavenaghi stood out with a beautiful strike at the edge of the box that narrowly missed the goals guarded by Hugo Lloris, who was having one of his great nights. But at the half-hour mark, a red card appeared for Cyril Jeunechamp’s forceful tackle on Geraldo Wendel. The face of the match changed with OGC Nice reduced to 10 men, prompting the replacement of Modeste by Diakité. The pressure soon mounted, and it would take a fine intervention by Lloris to keep out a powerful long-range shot from Fernando. The Azuréans bent but held on until Mr. Le Blanc blew the whistle for halftime at Chaban Delmas.
The second half looked to be challenging in this setup…
And this was confirmed within the first few minutes with the Girondins pushed by a crowd aware that Lyon was trailing on its turf to Caen. Franck Jurietti intensified his attacks, but his crosses found no takers in a penalty area dominated by Hugo Lloris, who made two more crucial saves against Fernando and Bellion. Nice resisted, but Bordeaux seemed unable to raise their game to achieve their goal. A goal by Cavenaghi was even disallowed for a combined handball and obstruction. Laurent Blanc then decided to unleash his offensive cavalry, knowing that Lyon had caught up with Caen. With just a few minutes of play remaining, the Nice defense had yet not been breached despite numerous attempts by the Bordeaux attack. Strengthened by a compact midfield, the Nice rear guard played a perfect match, especially being a man down for nearly an hour. In the 90th minute, even the post of Hugo Lloris thwarted Cavenaghi’s attempt, while the last chance for Nice came from one of the best players on the pitch, David Hellebuyck, who tried a long shot that resulted in nothing. Even the last corner for Bordeaux met a similar fate, and the two teams parted with a goalless draw until next season.
A very good result for a united Nice team that fought to the end to take home a point as heroic as it was precious against the runners-up in the standings, who could have closed to within three points of Lyon, the next hosts for the Azuréens. When Frédéric Antonetti’s commando acts as arbiter in the French Ligue 1 championship, they do it meticulously!
