Facing a rigorous and disciplined Bastia team, OGC Nice was defeated on their own ground 0-2. A setback that could knock the Eagles off the podium.
After the good point brought back from Bordeaux, OGC Nice was eager to get back to winning ways. What better than a home derby to achieve this? However, they hadn’t counted on the Corsicans, boosted to ensure their survival in the top tier.
Claude Puel fielded his usual diamond 4-4-2 formation with Rémi Walter starting in place of Jean-Mickael Séri as the only change from Bordeaux. The Ivorian, struggling to regain the form he showed in the first half of the season, is currently on a downward trend which allowed the young French prospect, who arrived this winter, to take his place.
The objective for Bastia was therefore to counter the three-man midfield that is the strength of Nice’s collective play. François Ciccolini opted for a 3-5-2 formation with the aim of blocking Nice’s midfield passes.
Yet, it was OGC Nice who immediately created a huge chance. After just two minutes of play, Rémi Walter did some fine work before setting up Jérémy Pied. The Nice defender’s cross found Alassane Pléa, who was denied by Jean-Louis Leca with an exceptional save. The tone was set for this match and Bastia’s response was not long in coming. A well-executed counter by Bastia allowed Brandao a scoring opportunity. However, the Brazilian, overly selfless on this occasion, didn’t put enough strength into his pass to Floyd Ayité.
Sporting was well-organized and executed high pressing that significantly hindered Nice’s ability to play out from the back. Misplaced passes accumulated in the Nice ranks and a lack of technical precision became apparent.
As usual, Claude Puel’s men monopolized the ball (73% possession at halftime) but struggled to trouble the Bastia goalkeeper. The Eagles resorted to set pieces and it was from a Walter corner that the second big chance of the match emerged. Alassane Pléa outjumped his marker but his glancing header grazed the post of a beaten Leca.
Despite the statistics in their favor, Nice went into the break with a goalless draw. Ciccolini’s plan was working brilliantly with Nice’s midfield completely outplayed in the first half.
The Perfect Strike by Bastia
Bastia started the second half pumped up and continued to execute their plan: leaving the ball to Nice and striking on the counter. Vincent Koziello narrowly escaped a second yellow card which would have meant exclusion. Without wasting any time, Claude Puel decided to replace his pocket-sized midfielder with Jean-Mickael Séri.
The turning point of the match then occurred. On another Bastia counter, Paul Baysse was penalized for a foul on Floyd Ayité at the edge of the box. Antony Gautier didn’t hesitate and expelled the Nice defender. A harsh red card that ruined Nice’s evening. Because from the subsequent free-kick, Sadio Diallo cleaned out the top corner past poor Yoan Cardinale, who had little to do until then.
Bastia took the lead and executed the perfect plan by scoring again three minutes later through Ayité, who delivered a low diagonal shot that Cardinale couldn’t stop. 0-2, the break was made.
Fouls began to accumulate on the Nice pitch and so did the cards: eight yellow cards and one red in total for an intense derby that maintained the tradition between these two clubs.
Nice could have sparked the end of the match by reducing the score but Valère Germain, just minutes from the end of this encounter, lost his one-on-one with the Bastia goalkeeper after a fantastic pass by Alassane Pléa.
The Sporting Club de Bastia therefore won for the second consecutive year at the Allianz Riviera, marking their second away win of the season. An immensely important victory that allows them to very seriously inch closer to survival.
Ricardo and Plea in, Bodmer out
On the OGC Nice side, individual performances are more notable than the collective one. Among the satisfaction, Jérémy Pied’s match performance stands out, never lacking in effort on his left side. On the right, Ricardo Perreira also put in a good performance. Very active especially in the first half, his speed and technique were on display, and he tirelessly worked on his right flank. Although not always successful, he had the merit of providing constant danger in the first period and treated us to some interesting technical skills.
Seemingly sluggish the previous weekend, it was a completely different Alassane Plea who played tonight in front of his home crowd. He worked very hard up front, constantly dropping back and breaking through. His partnership with Valère Germain is improving and promises good things for the future.
Mathieu Bodmer, who had an interesting first half in Bordeaux, missed his mark this time. Very discreet (no doubt due to Bastia’s effective pressing), he had too little impact on Nice’s play.
Following the defeat against Monaco, GYM loses another derby and sees their third place very seriously threatened. A wake-up call is expected next week against Troyes, the last in the rankings, with perhaps the return of Hatem Ben Arfa, who is sorely missed by this OGC Nice.
