OGC Nice presented themselves in Lyon last night with the desire to finish on a high before the World Cup. The Gym’s fine performance should have secured them 3 points, but due to an incident at the end of the match, it ended in a draw.
A disappointing result for Nice, who showed great things in the first half, led by a very active Nicolas Pepe, who was lawfully stopped by his compatriot Diomande (4th minute), then flagged offside after he had scored (27th minute). Less than 10 minutes later, Tagliafico handled the ball, causing a penalty for the Ivorian. Pepe was initially thwarted by Lopes but beat him on his second attempt, with the Portuguese goalkeeper not having a foot on the line at the start.
It was only logical that the Azurean club led at halftime, but unfortunately, the second half proved more challenging for the eaglets.
With the early injuries of Lemina and then Diop, Lucien Favre lost two of his most important players since the start of the season. Nevertheless, Nice was still the only team attacking after the break. However, an hour into the game, Laurent Blanc’s men began to push more and more forward. While they hadn’t found the target, they created a big chance thanks to a deflected shot from Tagliafico. After this chance, Lyon’s attacks became more intense, but Nice remained solid until the penalty… It was Lacazette who fell before Todibo’s arrival, managing to provoke an invisible penalty. With a minute left in the game, the Lyon captain himself converted the undeserved penalty. With this conceded goal, the Gym remains behind OL but within the top 10.
Without the awarded penalty, the Niçois would certainly have left Lyon with 2 extra points in their bag. Yet, this draw allows them to continue their unbeaten streak: the Eaglets are unbeaten in their last 6 Ligue 1 matches (3 wins, 3 draws), their best streak in a single season since February-April 2021 (6).
