Frédéric Antonetti can be proud of the work accomplished in recent weeks in sometimes a toxic atmosphere, which, in most cases, would have been fatal. The commando spirit blows, as promised by the rebellious islander, and the downward spiral seems finally to be reversing with a thunderous start to the year from the new squad led by Lilian, which once again sweeps everything in its path… and does so stylishly.
This time, the penalty is for the Eagles; the defensive rearguard will bend but never break. Kone has found the right angle to dispatch the game’s only goal into Penneteau’s top corner… the other strikes were just as fortunate, and Nice comes back from the North with three precious points in a pouch that now contains 26, 5 away from FC Nantes (19th) and 7 points from Sedan, firmly at the bottom of this Ligue 1.
It was written that this evening was going to be good, and nearly 15,000 spectators had gathered at the Nungesser stadium, bearing in mind the last performance of their proteges on Nantes territory and a convincing win (2-5). There was a slight problem, however, with a match marked by warnings, with a first yellow card distributed after only 2 minutes of play and six others that followed. In the game of yellows, a slight advantage to the Valenciennes side (Roudet, Penneteau, Savidan, Bratu), who collected one more than their Nice counterparts (Kante, Fanni, Kone). If they had to choose one, without a doubt, it would be the 28th minute that the Eagles would pick. An indisputable foul by Penneteau on Ederson, who left the game injured after this action, a penalty whistled by the referee for one evening, Bertrand Layec, and finally, Bakary Kone sending the ball out of the northern keeper’s reach to open the scoring in a stadium where everyone thought that in an hour of play, VA would manage to turn the tide. However, it didn’t account for the new OGC Nice from 2007, which seems to have matured enough to maintain a precious result while clinging on by a thread.
Sebastien Roudet, the former Gym occupant, even tried to boost his new teammates’ confidence by leading the way to the goal, but a flawless and unyielding Hugo Lloris, wielding his gloves masterfully once again, didn’t spare his old playmate. The little prodigy Savidan didn’t have a chance to repeat even a quarter of his exploit from the past week in Nantes and eventually went back to the locker room with a yellow card for simulating a foul in the Nice penalty area. Next, you know it, a defense that bends under repeated, albeit disorganized, assaults from Antoine Kombouaré’s men and the minutes ticked away until the final whistle, which gives a well-deserved victory to Nice.
A bit of melancholy crept in upon learning about the other results of the evening, with that eighteenth seat still deemed ejectable. But let’s not be too choosy, as the best seems yet to come in a club that is gradually regaining its colors and which must be in full possession of its capabilities before hosting a Lille team wounded by a home defeat against Lyon (1-2) and eager to catch up to a second place now occupied by their neighbors from Lens.
You can find on www.ogcnice.com:
– Post-match reactions
– Match highlights
