No one expected much from René Marsiglia’s men, yet the eaglets triumphed with flair in Lyon in a match worthy of an end-of-season encounter, filled with play, goals, and countless dangerous actions. Victory and secured maintenance, mission accomplished for OGC Nice, which is likely to experience a more lenient off-season. To be continued…
After over twenty minutes of play, with two bars hit by the Nice team and a rightly disallowed goal for offside, it was the Lyon team, through Lisandro and Briand, who led with a two-goal advantage. A score that could have been fatal for the Azureans depending on other results of this last matchday.
But, it was said that OGC Nice would not return empty-handed from their trip to Gerland; first Monzon, then Coulibaly, both adjusted Hugo Lloris, helpless against the two attempts by Nice. The teammates of Monzon, who was very active last night, made a comeback from a long way, and in the end, with a fair score and parity, both teams went back to the lockers.
No change in the second half and still pouring rain welcomed the 22 players of the night. The Nice team, although assured of maintenance with this draw, continued to push forward and succeeded in regaining the advantage from a free kick. Didier Digard took charge of the free kick 25 meters from Lloris’s goal and sent a powerful cross into the box. The Nice-born goalkeeper rose in his area to punch the ball but, aided by the rain, deflected it into his own net. A very rare error from the France team goalkeeper, who, we imagine unintentionally, pleased thousands of Nice supporters with his mistake.
Still playing strong and sometimes even very well with twenty minutes to the end of the match, Lyon made up for their deficit by Briand, who capitalized on a period of dominance from his team. A draw would have sufficed for both teams – nothing left to play for the first and salvation known for the second – but that’s where the flair came into action, and by Gonçalves, OGC Nice shook the nets of Gerland one last time for a beautiful victory, synonymous with maintenance and hope for the upcoming season already taking shape in the club’s backstage.
Because that’s it, the season is over, and it’s time now to get (back) to work to prepare as best as possible for this new season, fortunately in Ligue 1, which everyone hopes will be less complicated and less stressful than the last two…
Photo Credit: www.ogcnice.com
