Not much to take away from this trip to Nantes, except perhaps the good performance of young Mouez Hassen, who prevented the scoreline from being much heavier. What is more concerning is undoubtedly the absence of a shot on target and corners during the 90 minutes of play.
There’s no need to be a mind reader to imagine Claude Puel’s speech in the locker room after his protégés’ disastrous performance, as they never looked dangerous in the game, and even less so from the rare set-pieces, which were unfortunately always poorly executed. Yet, the first few minutes of play were rather in favor of Super Dario’s teammates. But, although the ball was properly carried up the field by the Nice defense and midfield, problems arose as they approached the goal guarded by Riou.
The first half-hour offered not even the slightest opportunity, and it was ultimately Nantes, via Djordevic, who opened the score after a beautiful save by Hassen on an attempt by Gakpé (1-0). The Nice team certainly wasn’t rewarded, but the Nantes side hadn’t stolen it either. No more thrilling opportunities before the break, and the Canaries could head to the locker room without having once encountered the big Nice cat.
In the second half, the Nantes team was much more enterprising, and Hassen once again demonstrated facets of his young talent by stopping another attempt by Gakpé on his line. Adding to the misfortune, Eric Bauthéac was forced to be taken off on a stretcher after a nasty knee twist and was replaced by Genevois.
But, it was said that the evening would be gloomy, and it was finally the lively Aristeguieta who, with a fierce header, crucified an impotent Hassen in the last minutes of play. The game was over, and no points would be returning to the capital of the Côte d’Azur, which was already preparing to welcome, this Saturday at the Allianz Riviera, a Guingamp fully boosted after their big win in this 7th round against Sochaux (5-1).
As they say around here, Méfi!
