The trip to Saint-Etienne was a true ordeal for the young eagles, who saw their hosts of the day surpass them in the standings, and Montpellier, who will visit them next Sunday at the Ray, edging to within just one point in the rankings.
The match promised to be complicated and it was, with a sustained physical engagement from the first minutes. It didn’t take more than five minutes for the first significant event to occur, with an overly generous penalty awarded by Bartolomeu Varela for a nonexistent foul on Aubameyang, who converted it himself (1-0). It couldn’t have started worse for the Niçois, who, a few minutes later, had a goal by Civelli disallowed, accused of a presumed foul on Ruffier. The game balanced out, and both teams circulated the ball well. It was during another green wave on the red and black defense that Valentin Eysseric tackled Jérémy Clément, but the intervention by the Nice forward did not find the ball but the ankle of the Saint-Etienne player, who collapsed suffering from a tibia-fibula fracture. Given the severity of the injury, Valentin Eysseric was logically expelled. Reduced to ten men, the young eagles went into the locker room trailing by one goal and with a second half not easy to manage.
It was the Niçois who quickly proved dangerous at the very start of the second half, with Bauthéac forcing Ruffier to make a save off the ground. The Saint-Etienne goalkeeper then collided with the Nice forward, whom he deemed guilty of trailing his feet. However, with a numerical advantage, the greens settled long-term in the Nice half, and the Mollo-Brandao pair created consecutive chances. What had to happen did happen at the hour mark: Mollo got the better of the Nice defense on the side and ideally found Brandao, who sent his shot into Ospina’s goal (2-0). Ten minutes later, it was a repeat performance, but with Brandao as the decisive passer this time and Mollo as the goal scorer (3-0). The tally was already steep for the Azuréens, but just four minutes later, the Brazilian doubled his tally, well served by Hamouma who came on in place of Aubameyang (4-0). The last quarter of an hour was entirely in favor of the greens, who couldn’t find the net again, thus remaining unbeaten in 2013.
For the Niçois, although the best defense of the year 2013, the evening was incredibly complicated with a heavy loss, a nonexistent penalty, and an expulsion followed by a likely severe suspension. The focus now is on the next Sunday fixture, next Sunday at 2 PM, hosting a Montpellier side that dominated Rennes on Friday night (2-0).
The days go by, but they do not necessarily resemble each other…
Photo credit: www.ogcnice.com
