Hampered by defensive errors, the Gym falls at home against a Roman team that could have been beaten. Although qualification remains within sight, there are serious questions to be asked…
The match was announced as a summit. The summit gave birth to a beautiful spectacle. In a superb European atmosphere, created by both locals and visitors, the Gym and Lazio engaged in a fine battle, but the outcome was not favorable for the men from the Côte. Even though the ball caressed from the start by Sneijder’s left foot and victoriously headed by Balotelli suggested that this “new look” Nice team would be hard to budge (1-0, 4’).
But football has terrible traditions that, far from belonging to fiction, regularly find very current application. The 5 minutes following a goal are often described, in this respect, as 5 perilous minutes. It only took the Romans 30 seconds to erase their deficit, much to the chagrin of the red and black people, who were still standing to celebrate their Italian hero’s header. Following the kickoff that succeeded the opening goal, the Laziale immediately sent a long ball, Milinkovic-Savic jumped alone to head it deep, and Caicedo took advantage of a Dante-Cardinale misunderstanding to equalize like an opportunistic fox (1-1, 5′).
The advantage was short-lived, but the equalizer did not bewilder Lucien Favre’s charges. Positioned in a 3-5-1-1 formation, with a dynamic, aggressive, and serene Marlon on the right axis, Burner on the wing, a midfield trio of Lees-Melou – Mendy – Walter, and Sneijder supporting Mario, they put their foot on the ball and developed an attractive game.
A game guided by a solid Papy in front of the defense and made fluid by an inspired Wesley, both in ball control and distribution. On the other side, Simone Inzaghi remained faithful to his 3-5-2 but replaced, as expected, his attacking duo. Caicedo and Nani were aligned in place of Immobile and Alberto, and the 3rd in Serie A remained true to its reputation. During the 1st half, they stayed mostly low, leaving the ball mostly to Nice, but remained dangerous when breaking from their base. Most often through direct play behind the three center-backs.
Patric thus made a getaway on the right side, accelerated but hit his shot too wide (19′). Nani tried from afar, and Cardi rebuffed it with his chest, only for Radu to miss the target (36′). These two most dangerous attempts from the blue side showed that the Red and Black had to be wary. A crushed shot from a super-fit Balotelli (22′), and a free kick placed by Sneijder onto Dante’s head, which was then put back into the box by the captain, scrambled but cleared by the visitor’s defense (42′), illustrated that the reverse was also true.
DANTE’S INFERNO
From the start of the second half, the hosts came in strong to make their visitor fold. Dante found Sneijder, who magnificently oriented himself and released Balo with a single pass. The number 9 took advantage of Strakosha’s poor exit to intercept the leather and strike with force, from an impossible angle. The ball went wide, but the tone was set. At least, that’s what we thought…
Strangely, Lazio played higher upon returning to the field, leaving spaces behind their defense. Launched by PLM, Mario often in a 1-on-2 but hard to catch, controlled with the outside of his right but missed the target (53’). Then Sneijder tried his luck from 20 meters, but the ball was caught (56’). Those from Mario’s right foot flew away (61’, 75’). It seemed like the lock was going to break, that the Italians were going to give in. Inzaghi brought on Immobile and Alberto around the hour mark, and the bad legends of football found a new (adverse) illustration.
Dominated, Lazio took the lead with a textbook action. Caicedo made the perfect run, on the verge of offside, provided a back pass to Milinkovic-Savic, and the move was finished with a touch into the net (1-2, 65’).
Despite this hard blow, Nice did not surrender. Lucien Favre replaced Lees-Melou with Plea. The latter distinguished himself with a fine cross shot caught by the Albanian goalkeeper (81’). The coach then brought Srarfi in place of Jallet, shifted to a back four. Attempted everything. But Milinkovic-Savic, the man of the match, nodded in a corner at the near post, at the end of regular time (1-3, 89’). A frustrating end for the Eagles who were not rewarded.
Frustration slightly alleviated by the draw between Vitesse and Zulte, which still allows them to maintain a 5-point lead over their two pursuers.
WORDS, WORDS…
Maxime Le Marchand: There are regrets because we make a good start. We quickly concede a goal due to an error, but I think we still have the match in hand. We control the ball, we manage to play, even if we don’t create many opportunities. They don’t have many either. We still pay dearly for mistakes. These are details that need to be looked at, analyzed, and corrected.
Pierre Lees-Melou: Those are the two dominant feelings, especially in view of our start, where we hold the ball and quickly settle into their half. But then we foolishly let them back into the game. It hit us hard. Then we lacked effectiveness and were not dangerous enough offensively to come back. It’s on the details that we lost the last matches, we will have to correct them. We must be more efficient to quickly secure our position. When you rack up 3 losses, it’s always complicated. It’s up to us to show that we’re a united team.
Lucien Favre: We pay for everything dearly. Every little detail. It’s tough. For everyone. That’s how it is, we can’t replay the match. We didn’t have time to breathe after our goal. It would have been better to maintain the 1-0, of course. We have to work on what needs improvement and try to correct it. It’s clear it’s annoying to concede the first goal like that. The second one bothers me too. We were caught by surprise. I won’t point fingers at any particular player in front of you. But we weren’t 200% focused at key moments of the match.
