A victory in Bastia (0-1), a fourth place in the standings, and a triumphant return to Nice, the evening for the eaglets was most remarkable as the mission was quite delicate on island soil.
The celebration promised to be great in the stands of Furiani, which regained their voice after three months of inactivity, but that was without counting on Claude Puel’s team, who for the occasion, included his son Grégoire in the red and black rearguard. And it was the team from Nice that went on the attack first with a dazzling Maupay, who probably deserved a penalty in the first few minutes of play. But Mr. Bien misjudged the action. The Bastia players reacted and tried to go down the sides, thus exposing themselves to counterattacks by the Azur team. The balance of play and fouls multiplied on the field. Rothen eliminated Pejcinovic to find Khazri, hindered by Puel, whose attempt was blocked by Ospina, who had to fend off another shot from Thauvin a few seconds later, still with the same success. Nice held strong for the first half hour and was even dangerous with a beautiful pass from Puel to Eysseric, but the eaglet’s left-footed volley went wide of Landreau’s goal. The end of the first half favored the visitors, but nothing was ultimately scored as they went to the locker rooms without a goal, which was quite deserved.
The same formations resumed for the second half, and it was the former eaglet, Modeste, who came close to opening the scoring, but Grégoire Puel thwarted the attempt from the Corsican striker, sending the ball to Ospina’s crossbar. Now it was the turn of the players from Nice to show incisiveness, and it took a great effort from Landreau to block Bauthéac, who was ideally served by Eysseric. As the match approached the hour mark, Claude Puel’s team was playing almost perfectly in an atmosphere not really to their advantage. Maupay attempted from afar but without success until Abriel, well-placed on the right, found Maupay, who left Landreau no chance by sending the ball into Bastia’s net (0-1). Furiani fell silent, and the players from Nice could rejoice. The end of the match turned into an attack-defense scenario unfavorable to the locals, who were only dangerous from set pieces, like Rothen’s corner that found Beauvue’s head, but the ball ended its path just inches outside Ospina’s goal, who once again was remarkable in his position. The players from Nice held strong and managed to hold on until the final whistle from Mr. Bien, confirming the third consecutive away victory for the eaglets, who rose to 4th place in Ligue 1.
With the game against Reims, next Friday at 8:30 p.m., it promises to be a peaceful week of preparation in the coming days for a group that once again proved its moral values as well as its strength on the road. And they will need to be strong for the next outing to the fiery atmosphere of Saint-Etienne…
Photo credit: www.ogcnice.com
