What if it was a psychological problem. Defeated 1-0 on Bastia’s field, the Eagles appeared sluggish against a team reduced to 10 players throughout the entire second half. Regularly struggling away since the beginning of the season, this match came to confirm this negative trend.
OGC Nice truly has two faces this season. Two completely different aspects, one at home and the other away. Undefeated and assertive in their play on their own turf, the Eagles act quite the opposite away from home.
In Furiani, they did not stray from this rule. From the onset of the match, they were taken by surprise by an aggressive Bastia team. The Bastia players had much to make up for after their catastrophic performance in Paris. They quickly made their presence felt with a cross from the Serbian Krasic to Gianni Bruno, who was too short to reach the ball at the far post. The same Bruno tried his luck from afar with a powerful shot under the bar, but Ospina was vigilant.
The 36th minute was the moment chosen by Sébastien Squillacci to shine. From a corner kicked to the far post, the Bastia defender, left unmarked by a missing Nice defense, placed a clever header to open the score. Nice felt the blow and had to go back to the locker room with the feeling they hadn’t played fully in this first half.
For the second half, a twist of fate came to aid the Eagles. Gianni Bruno was fairly quickly and logically sent off for scraping his studs on Pejcinovich’s abdomen. The match changed radically and the Nice players rushed to attack, faced with a Bastia side withdrawn into their camp. On several occasions, Mickael Landreau, the Corsican goalkeeper, saved his team with multiple saves, becoming the hero of the night.
The Bastia defense was united and valiant, but the Azurean attackers especially lacked finishing. Should this be seen as the symbol of Nice’s impotence away? It’s an easy conclusion to draw since the Eagles seemed paralyzed, unable to find solutions. Dario Cvitanich, who had been so prolific since the start of the season, appeared out of form, too isolated against this solid Bastia defense (Modesto-Squillacci). The Argentinian had often been the standout player in these early-season matches, saving his underperforming teammates from disaster. In this match, neither he nor the team was able to overturn the trend.
A worrying observation of the players’ mentality away from home. At least these underperformances serve to put the Eagles under pressure for each home match. This will certainly be the case against Bordeaux next weekend, with once again the need for results to remain at the top of the standings.
