Nice was held to a draw by a valiant Bastia who never gave up. Tied at the hour mark, the Eagles lost two points and saw their competitors close the gap in the standings.
Eliminated from the Europa League by Schalke 04 on Thursday, the Eagles were counting on their game against Bastia to bounce back. In the truly heated derby atmosphere (Populaire Sud full, once again), Lucien Favre once again decided to field his players in a 4-3-3 formation.
Nice started with a backline of four, composed of Ricardo, Dante, Sarr, and Dalbert, from right to left. Wylan Cyprien began in midfield, just behind Mika Seri and Rémi Walter. Two playmakers, Younès Belhanda and Valentin Eysseric, were positioned in support of Alassane Pléa, alone up front.
Although Bastia began with intense physical pressure and already many fouls, Nice held on and controlled possession. The first warning came with a superb chip from Dante, over the defense, serving Pléa, whose shot was deflected for a corner (8th minute) by a Leca booed each time he touched the ball. A reminder of the good old times…
Just two minutes later, from a corner, Pléa rose higher than Mostefa to send a magnificent header into the top corner and open the scoring (11th minute). As usual, Nice quickly took the lead. But as usual as well, the Gym relaxed. The symbol of this slackening was called… Alassane Pléa.
On a superb through ball, the Nice striker found himself alone against Leca but attempted an overly ambitious backheel (17th minute). A shame, as it was the opportunity to (already) kill the match. All the more so as the Corsican defense struggled immensely to contain the Eagles. Every through ball was dangerous and several offside calls by the referees saved the islanders.
Nice managed the end of the first half against a disorganized Bastia, without being threatened.
The overconfident Nice players
The start of the second half was identical to that against Lorient last October. Nice relaxed and allowed the Corsicans too much freedom. The entrance of Allan Saint-Maximin replacing Thiévy Bifouma likely contributed to this. By the 53rd minute, Crivelli almost equalized from a corner, in a repeat of Pléa’s goal situation.
The Eagles trembled, but a few minutes later, the same Crivelli took advantage of a ball cleared by Cardinale to send a shot with the inside of his foot, leaving Sarr (a bird’s wing deflection) and Dante (too short) powerless.
Bastia equalized and, given Nice’s play, it seemed logical. Too complacent, the Gym rested on its laurels. Despite a beautiful effort from Eysseric, with a magnificent shot reminiscent of his goal against PSG in 2012-2013, an imperial Leca made a great save. The Corsican goalkeeper was prominent on two other occasions (64th, 73rd), then in another way, like Pascal Dupraz, pretending to have been struck by an object on the head (an object never found) and rolling on the ground for long seconds.
The end of the match became tense and the Gym almost took the lead again. The decisive moment came when, on a three-man move and a lucky rebound, Pléa rounded Leca… And struck the crossbar. With less than five minutes to go, the scene was harsh. At the very end, one last chance saved the Corsicans, who left with a point that felt like a victory. On the Nice side, there would be regrets about the second-half relaxation, and questions about why Lucien Favre did not make any substitutions despite a promising bench (Koziello, Donis, Boscagli, Marcel…)
The Gym remains the leader but now has only a one-point lead over Paris and Monaco, both winners this weekend. The noose is tightening…
The stat: 12/14
Nice opened the scoring in 12 of their 14 Ligue 1 matches this season. The exceptions are Caen and Montpellier (away). This is the highest total in the championship.
Dante’s reaction:
“When you play at home and create so many chances, of course, you’re disappointed. But we can say that the team had a good attitude after conceding the goal. There were still many positive things. At 1-0, we wanted to play smartly, not get caught on the counter by being impatient. What I found negative was our end to the first half and start of the second. We need to be much more focused on that, we can’t have passages like that.”
Mika Séri’s reaction:
“There’s too much disappointment, I don’t know what to say. We didn’t start our 2nd half well, we came in a bit sluggish. Nothing was coming together, it was difficult. At the top level, when you’re not in it, it costs you dearly. We shouldn’t have managed the match like that at home. Now it’s football, what happened has happened. Many matches will follow, we’ll need to recover well and approach Guingamp calmly.”
Lucien Favre’s reaction:
“The success we didn’t have tonight, we had a month and a half ago, playing much worse than tonight. We scored relatively quickly and unconsciously, maybe we thought it was done. We slowed the pace in our passes and movements, and that’s enough to no longer destabilize the opponent. We struggled to start again in the second half and conceded that goal. In the last twenty minutes, we were excellent in play, and we had chances to score.”
