It was the Niçois who took the initiative first with a beautiful half-volley that didn’t find Roma’s goal. But quickly, the players of the Principality showed good offensive intentions, only to be met by the iron hand of a Hugo Lloris in a state of grace, allowing himself even daring exits like the one executed with one hand at the edge of his penalty area, followed by a headed clearance outside the area. Raymond Domenech would do well to take a look at the red and black house if he wants a solid second goalkeeper for Euro 2008. Monaco presses, Nice pushes back. There might have been a goal by Bamogo at the end of the first half but it was rightly disallowed by Stéphane Bré, who also warned the Niçois attacker for a deliberate handball. The scenario resembled the first half in favor of the Brazilian-styled coached players with a return to the locker room at a goalless draw, neither undeserved for one nor the other.
The second half resumed as the first ended with the Monaco players determined to put an end to a long series of failures against their Niçois neighbors, but nothing worked, and the Niçois players couldn’t have found a better occasion to debut their new warrior outfit. Minutes passed and the Niçois began to escape a bit from the Monegasque stranglehold thanks to a Laslandes in good form and an Ederson who had put aside his “selfish side” to engage his teammates. It seemed that a draw was, undoubtedly, the best outcome of this encounter played at a high pace and with technical quality worthy of a derby.
There were 5 minutes left, and Ricardo decided to replace his compatriot Adriano with Cufre. This is what you call winning coaching since a few seconds later, the Brazilian delivered a golden ball to Koller, who opened the scoring to the great delight of the red and white supporters. The hardest part seemed done for Koller’s teammates who scored!
The many Niçois supporters who had made the short trip from Ray to Louis II gave their last vocal efforts in the Rocher battle, but stoppage time was already underway as was their morale. At that moment, Rool started his descent down the left wing to secure a good cross that the German giant cleared, against the coaches’ advice, into the center. And coaches often speak the truth because in that center stood Lilian Laslandes, who with a perfect bicycle kick adjusted Roma, who could only watch the ball find its place in the back of the net. The stadium vibrated in red and black as memories resurfaced. Good for the Niçois and worse for the Monegasques.
A final jersey pull very close on Bamogo, a last yellow card for Modesto, and the referee blew the end of this match which had a finale worthy of its two halves. Nice remains fifth, Monaco is still two points behind, and the next day will see Monaco go to Marseille while Nice will host Bordeaux.
The beautiful days continue at OGC Nice. Let’s enjoy it!
