Still as impressive in the game, the Aiglons dominated the too-weak Nantes team, thanks notably to a double from Cyprien (4-1). Nice is further extending its lead at the top of the championship.
But who will stop the Gym? That is the question everyone is asking. Because against Nice’s offensive arsenal, few can resist. Marseille, Monaco, Lyon, Metz, and now Nantes are among the main victims of the Aiglons. The irresistible Niçois, aided by success, a bit of luck, but above all, enormous talent.
A talent that allows Lucien Favre to vary his tactics when composing his team. In the absence of Baysse and Dalbert, the Swiss coach retains a defense of four with Dante and Sarr in the center, accompanied by Ricardo and Souquet on the flanks. In midfield, Bodmer is positioned as a defensive midfielder under Seri and Cyprien. Up front, Balotelli returns to spearhead the attack, assisted on his sides by Pléa and Belhanda.
A relatively offensive lineup, but the Niçois are the first to be unsettled. Right from the first minute, Bammou misses a volley in front of the goal. But Nice responds in the 5th minute with a nice breakthrough by Balotelli in the center.
And as is customary, the Gym opens the scoring in the 8th minute, following another breakthrough by Balotelli, stopped by an illegal tackle in the box. The referee lets play continue, allowing Cyprien to blast past Rémy Riou from close range (1-0, 8th). A goal that knocks the wind out of Nantes.
Against very aggressive Nantais, Nice dominates and controls the game. Bodmer and Seri play deep, and just before the half-hour mark, the latter perfectly sets Balotelli up over the Canaries’ defense. The Italian striker advances and crucifies Riou with a nearly insolent outside-foot shot (2-0, 27th).
In the stands, it’s Argentina (the Niss’Argentina banner reminds us) and on the field, it’s Brazil. Nantes reacts, but it is not enough to worry the very calm Niçois.
Reacting Aiglons
And yet, right at the start of the second half, a mistake by Bodmer proves costly: the midfielder loses the ball twenty meters out and offers a goal opportunity to Emiliano Sala, who happily capitalizes to get the Canaries back in the game.
A chill runs through the Nice spectators for a quarter of an hour. Nice seems to retreat and weaken. The Allianz Riviera crowd fears a Nantes comeback. That was without counting on the inevitable Alassane Pléa. With a header in front of Riou, the forward sends a seemingly innocuous ball into the opposite bottom corner (3-1, 60th), benefiting from a missed clearance by the Nantes goalkeeper.
Again, Nantes is struck, and less than five minutes later, Wylan Cyprien scores a brace after a magnificent combination between Balotelli and Ricardo (4-1, 65th).
The end of the match favors the locals, who are much more at ease keeping possession. Despite a few scares towards the end of the match, the Aiglons control the game and calmly head towards their ninth victory in eleven league matches.
At the final whistle, Nice is more than ever the leader of Ligue 1: Monaco’s draw allows the Gym to lead by six points over ASM and PSG. Very promising ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League match against Salzburg.
The stat: 3
Since the introduction of the 3-point victory, Nice is only the third team to have at least 29 points after 11 Ligue 1 matches, joining Lyon in 2006/07 (31) and Paris in 2015/16 (29). Both were crowned champions at the end of the season.
Lucien Favre’s reaction:
It’s deserved over the course of the match. We did experience difficult moments, especially in the beginning. They had two good chances and if they had scored at that moment, it could have changed things. They played with a system of two forwards against our defense plus Bammou and Harit. They were better than us there. Afterward, they had to change because we took control, as Ricardo was all alone, he could advance, and he was very dangerous. It was then a normal 4-4-2.
The first goal came at the right time. The second is magnificent. Then, at 2-0, there was a slight relaxation. We conceded that goal due to a loss of possession, even though we knew Nantes pressed in such a manner, and after that, we suffered. Pléa’s 3-1 was very important.
Yoan Cardinale’s reaction:
The team played really well today (Sunday), we played very attractive football. The score came with style, which is even more pleasing. 4-1? That’s not insignificant, but winning with a four-goal margin is the same as winning 1-0: it gets you 3 points. That’s why I prefer to highlight the manner. We can be proud of the football we played. We’ll need to keep working to maintain this momentum and enjoy it every weekend.
