Without necessarily shining, Nice did the job against Dijon (2-1) and are assured of spending the holidays at the top of Ligue 1.
“It’s been Christmas since August.” As the Armada Rumpetata Nissa banner says, Nice knows how to spoil its supporters, who feel like they’re living a dream. And the dream continues with a 13th victory in 18 matches. It may not be the most beautiful of the season, but it holds its own importance.
In the absence of Ricardo and Dalbert, Lucien Favre rearranged his defense. Maxime Le Marchand and Dante are lined up in central defense, accompanied by Arnaud Souquet and Malang Sarr. In front of them, the Cyprien-Seri-Walter trio is restored, just below Pléa and Belhanda, who support Balotelli at the front.
Le Gym tries to put pressure on its visitor from the start and takes possession of the ball, doubling exchanges and relying on the support of its supporters to suffocate the Burgundians. But they resist initially while showing themselves dangerous thanks to the power and quality of percussion of Loïs Diony, a constant and very restless poison, who creates a great chance on a solo raid concluded with a shot off-target after a quarter of an hour.
It’s for Mario, it’s a gift
But at the half-hour mark, a long cross from an enormous Dante on this Sunday traverses the field from one end to the other to unlock Dijon’s five-man defense. The Brazilian international finds Pléa who dribbles past Abdelhamid before being unbalanced in the box. Mr. Millot points to the penalty spot, Super Mario seizes the opportunity and celebrates his 7th goal in L1 with a fierce punch.
Le Gym believes it has done the hardest part. A dangerous play by Souquet in his own box, resulting in a penalty, hinders this beautiful thought. Tavares strikes in the middle and resets the counters to zero. Everything is to be done again for the Eaglets who are dangerous on set-pieces (Cyprien in the 26th, Balotelli in the 46th) but exposed.
And while the DFCO could have been behind at the break, they could also have taken the lead, if Dante hadn’t cleared a scrambled ball on a distant free-kick off the line (22nd) and if Cardinale hadn’t calmly collected a shot from Chafik (40th).
At the start of the second half, Arnaud Souquet bursts down his flank and delivers a powerful cross into the opponent’s box. Super Mario, like a fox, deflects the ball and restores the lead to his team (50th). The lead is preserved by a calm save from Cardinale shortly after, followed by another dive from the keeper on a volley from Tavares at the hour mark.
It was written that the Eaglets would never be at ease until they made a two-goal cushion. This almost comes from a missile fired by the very lively Italian international this afternoon (66th). The searching head, launched from the right side, ends its run beside Reynet’s post, causing a collective shiver.
Alassane Pléa’s teammates fall back a notch at the end of the game, legs a bit heavy. They focus on defending their one-goal lead. Despite a few dangerous situations, they do not falter, and even observe with desire a ball from Walter volleyed by Pléa, which ends its run on the bar (87th).
The score does not change, and Nice again ensures a small lead over Monaco and Paris. Especially since later in the evening, Monaco falls at home to Lyon (1-3). With a four-point deficit, the Monegasques are forced to relinquish the honorary autumn champion title to OGC Nice. Anecdotal, certainly, but it’s still something gained.
The stat: 0
Like the number of red cards OGC Nice has received this season. Mario Balotelli’s against Lorient is an exception, having been rescinded later. Nice logically leads the fair-play ranking with only 25 yellow cards.
Additionally, Nice has not received a red card in Ligue 1 during its last 28 matches, with the last expulsion dating back to last February 26 against Bastia (Paul Baysse).
Lucien Favre’s reaction
“There is no surprise for me. Dijon is a well-organized team, regardless of its system, I knew it would be tough. It’s tough for all teams. They scored 4-2 against Lyon, made it 1-1 against Monaco, lost at the last minute against Bordeaux, led 3-1 with 10 minutes to go against Guingamp… that says it all. They have good players, they’re dangerous up front, and the midfield is very active. There’s a lot of running, and it’s very athletic. In this area, we suffered. But we are happy to win a very difficult match. It could have turned out differently, they pushed and we didn’t have many chances. We missed some things. In the defensive/offensive balance, we struggled.”
Wylan Cyprien’s reaction
“It was important to win. Maybe the manner wasn’t there, but we gave it our maximum and the result is there. Such matches are part of the learning process to reach the highest level. It’s important for morale, especially after the defeat in the League Cup. We will return to Bordeaux (match this Wednesday at 8:50 PM) with the will to win.”
Yoan Cardinale’s reaction
“It’s a nice journey, we’re officially safe! More seriously, we are very happy with what we have achieved, but we do not intend to settle for these 43 points, that’s not the goal. The goal is to go as high as possible, to set no limits. There is still a long way to go. Autumn champion or not, it’s not in the record books. Will I be a Lyon fan tonight? No, we remain one hundred percent Niçois. However, if Lyon has the good idea to get a result in Monaco tonight, that won’t bother us!”
