The Gym likely said goodbye to its European Cup hopes by losing at home to the league’s last-place team (0-1). And yet, there was room for more…
The visit from Caen had all the makings of a trap match. As the last in Ligue 1 with only five goals scored in 2019, the Normans are playing for their survival in the final days, neck and neck with Guingamp and Dijon.
Right from the start of the game, it’s Nice who takes control of the ball, as often happens at home. Lees-Melou gets an early chance but hits the side netting (6th minute). Caen gets their first shot on goal just before halftime, but Benitez stands vigilant (43rd minute).
The main event of the first half is a free kick from Malang Sarr deflected by the hand of Alexander Djiku. After a video review, the Gym is awarded a penalty (27th minute). Rémi Walter steps up to take it but Brice Samba saves it.
In the second half, Srarfi sees his shot blocked by an imposing Samba (49th minute). Then it’s Saint-Maximin’s turn to be thwarted by the Caen defense, with Lees-Melou following suit moments later (69th minute).
To everyone’s surprise, five minutes later, Caen scores from a corner, the cross deflected by Tchoukounté, a native of Nice who had just been subbed in, then bundled over the line by Djiku’s knee (0-1, 74th minute).
Despite promising appearances by young players Brazao and Jaziri, the Gym wakes up too late and does not equalize. A cruel but almost predictable defeat as the Eagles lacked offensive efficiency. A lack of attack and goals likely cost them valuable points in the race for Europe tonight.
PATRICK VIEIRA’S REACTION
“We have a lot of frustrations regarding the match we played. Overall, it was quite a good match, but we had too many mistakes in the final third. Poor decisions. The missed penalty could have changed the game. I have little to reproach the players for, I felt they were focused and involved. We lacked luck in front of the goal, mirroring our season. We managed to produce good play overall but made too many poor choices, which complicated our task of scoring goals.”
ADRIEN TAMEZE’S REACTION
“Winning was important,” regretted the midfielder. “We play at home twice, and with our recent good results, we needed to build on them. They scored from a set-piece; we got punished. It’s a shame. Europe? There are still plenty of games to play, there’s still something to fight for, the league is balanced; we must not lose focus and need to take three points against Guingamp. We can’t say the missed penalty was the turning point of the match because then we had other chances that we didn’t take advantage of. This lack of realism puts us in danger, and tonight we were punished…”
