At the Raymond-Kopa stadium, OGC Nice and SCO Angers draw with a score of 1-1.
At kick-off, Patrick Vieira decides to organize his team in a 4-3-3 formation. In defense, due to the multitude of injuries, Dante partners in the center with his fellow countryman Danilo. On the sides, we find N’Soki on the left and Christophe Hérelle, returning from injury, on the right. In midfield, Cyprien, Lees-Melou, and Boudaoui are lined up. Finally, Claude-Maurice, Ganago, and Dolberg operate in attack.
At the beginning of the match, Nice struggles to keep the ball, and Benitez is often called upon. The defense is having trouble finding its rhythm, and the Angers players take advantage to find gaps.
Thus, logically, SCO Angers opens the scoring in the 37th minute. After a superb one-two between Mangani and Thioub, the latter finds himself at the edge of the box and manages to place a precise shot in Benitez’s bottom corner.
This is followed by a very long interruption of the match for more than 5 minutes due to a collision between Boudaoui and Ait-Nouri. Eventually, the Angers right defender is carried off on a stretcher, completely dazed, and is replaced by Théo Pelmard. For his part, Boudaoui receives a yellow card.
The last minutes of the first half are very eventful, and Nice manages to find spaces in Angers’ half.
At the 45th+4 minute, Christophe Hérelle manages to deliver a cross from the right side. He targets Ganago in the box, who is jostled by Angers’ two central defenders. The referee of the match, Willy Delajod, awards a penalty to Nice. Cyprien takes charge and sends the ball into Butelle’s top corner. Cyprien has a 100% success rate from penalties since the beginning of the season, scoring his 7th goal of the season.
Both teams head back to the locker rooms level, but Nice have suffered greatly during this first half.
To try to change the dynamic of the match, Adam Ounas replaces Hicham Boudaoui at the start of the second half.
However, the intentions remain the same, and the second half decreases in intensity. Chances become rare, and fatigue starts to set in.
During the last fifteen minutes, both teams give it their all to try to snatch the 3 points, but it’s not enough.
OGC Nice returns with a point from Angers and stagnates in the middle of the table (temporarily 11th with 28 points).
