This Wednesday evening, the Gym played its French Cup Round of 16 match against Montpellier. Very strong offensively, the Aiglons secured a convincing win (1-4) and qualified for the quarter-finals.
A few days after the draw in Brest, the Niçois switched competitions to play the French Cup. The Aiglons faced a challenging away game on the turf of MHSC. For this match, Francesco Farioli made some changes to his traditional 4-3-3 formation. Romain Perraud and Pablo Rosario started the match on the defensive wings. Alexis-Claude Maurice took a place in the midfield. Finally, Tom Louchet began in attack alongside Gaetan Laborde and Mohamed Ali Cho.
In a sparsely filled Stade de la Mosson, the match began at a slow pace. It took until the fifteenth minute of play to see a shot on target. The long-range attempt by Montpellier’s captain Teji Savanier was easily caught by Marcin Bulka. There was no more danger from a header by Mohamed Ali Cho straight into the hands of the MHSC goalkeeper.
Three Nice Goals in Ten Minutes
Gradually, the Héraultais started to gain possession. Just before the half-hour mark, Khazri’s shot went over Bulka’s goal. But, shortly afterwards, it was OGC Nice that opened the scoring with a superb 30-meter strike from Youssouf Ndayishimiye (0-1). Nice doubled their lead in the 37th minute (0-2). Poised in the box, Tom Louchet scored his second goal of the season. And it didn’t stop there, Mohamed Ali Cho scored the 0-3 on a solo effort (39’). This was the first goal for the winger who arrived this winter on the Côte d’Azur. The Gym made the difference in ten minutes.
With a solid defensive block, the Gym allowed Montpellier to have the ball, playing only for counter-attacking opportunities. At the hour mark, Claude-Maurice earned a penalty after a poor intervention by Benjamin Lecomte. The midfielder took the penalty himself with a cross-shot (0-4). Everything was going in Nice’s favor in this match. In the 74th minute, Evan Guessand was penalized for a handball in the area. But Marcin Bulka, brilliant at saving penalties, stopped Ndiaye’s attempt. Finally, MHSC reduced the deficit on a corner, thanks to Modibo Sagnan (1-4), even though the defender seemed to be offside during the play. OGC Nice qualified at the end of a well-managed match from start to finish.
The next match for the Aiglons is on Sunday evening in Ligue 1. OGC Nice will host Monaco in what promises to be a fiery derby, as part of the 21st round of the championship. Kickoff is at 20:45 at the Allianz Riviera.
