Battered throughout the match, Nice managed to salvage a draw at the Parc (2-2) to retain the top spot in the standings. Yes, the Gym is solid.
The Eaglets start with their favorite formation: the 3-5-2. Yoan Cardinale guards the goal, just behind a back three composed of Arnaud Souquet, Dante, and Malang Sarr. The explosive Ricardo and Dalbert are tasked with covering the flanks, while the midfield consists of the trio Seri-Cyprien-Walter. Younes Belhanda begins as the playmaker, just behind Alassane Pléa, the lone forward.
From the first minutes, Paris imposes its rhythm. Their fullbacks are formidable, and the Nice defense wobbles right from the start, but Cardinale makes a superb save first against Kurzawa then Cavani (7th minute) to kick off the match.
Facing relentless Parisians, Nice holds firm. In defense, they buckle down, make calm clearances, and try to push the ball forward. And yet, on their first real opportunity, Nice opens the scoring to everyone’s surprise: Cyprien sends a magnificent free kick into Areola’s top corner, leaving him powerless (0-1, 32nd minute).
One shot, one goal, it seems like Gym is lucky. And yet. Behind, Paris shows signs of jitteriness. Cyprien nearly doubles the score. A few seconds later, Alassane Pléa takes charge. Taking advantage of a precise cross from Dalbert, the striker capitalizes on a misunderstanding between Marquinhos and Thiago Silva to control the ball and finish past Areola (0-2, 45+3 minutes).
At halftime, Gym pulls off the perfect sting, the heist of the century: two shots, two goals. But right after the break, Nice is caught slipping. It takes just 55 seconds for Aurier to deliver a perfect cross to Cavani, who finishes from close range (1-2, 46th minute).
With the resurgence, Parisians push and continue to attack. Dalbert, injured and beaten by Aurier on the goal, is replaced by Boscagli (49th minute). Cyprien nearly becomes the hero of an entire people a few minutes later as his shot goes over (57th minute). But three minutes later, on an innocuous cross, Cardinale fails to make a clean clearing and punches the ball onto Dante. Caught off guard, the defender is outpaced by Cavani, who didn’t need another invitation (60th minute).
30 minutes to go and the score is reset. But the heroic Eaglets will resist Parisian assaults. Fifteen minutes from the end, Cavani scores what would be his third goal, identical to the first, but he is flagged offside (75th minute). And right at the beginning of stoppage time, Cardinale makes a perfect save after a header from Kurzawa deflected by El Matador.
If the Eaglets leave with a draw, they can count themselves lucky, as they were on edge the entire time. They pull off a minor heist and maintain their lead in the championship with a four-point advantage over their opponent of the night.
The stat: 40
Like the number of points Gym has after 17 matchdays. A historic record because the Gym had never amassed so many in so few matches before.
Lucien Favre’s reaction:
“We are a little bit disappointed since we were leading 2-0 at halftime, everything was set up to win. But we have to put this disappointment in perspective and remain positive. It was very hard for us at the beginning of the match. Until our free-kick goal, which gave the team confidence. Plus, we scored the second just before halftime. Coming back into the second half, we wanted to score the third. But I regret that early 2-1 goal, which completely reignited Paris. The positive is that despite conceding two goals too quickly, we managed to hold onto this 2-2. There’s a bit of disappointment, but it’s still a point in Paris! With their two goals in the first quarter-hour of the second half, we thought it would be very hard, but the team stayed united and was able to hold on. We made mistakes, what’s done is done, now we must look ahead. It’s certain Dalbert should have come out at halftime; it’s a mistake. Regret lies in how easily Paris scored their two goals.”
Dante’s reaction:
“Paris started the match intensely. We managed to keep the score 0-0. We were efficient in scoring two goals. But in the second half, we should have managed things better and been smarter. We conceded goals at bad times. We are learning… football is about intensity and aggressiveness. But I still congratulate my team. Paris played a big match, but leading 2-0, we hoped to win.”
Arnaud Souquet’s reaction:
“At 2-0 at halftime we knew they would push. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal early in the second half, which reignited them. The goals we let in were not top-notch, that’s the pity. Leading 2-0, we could have hoped to leave with three points, even though we are aware that we also had some luck in the first half. In the first half we struggled to hold the ball, they pressed hard for an hour; towards the end, a little less, but that’s normal, having played midweek in the Europa League. We are back on top, we continue our series, it’s still positive. In the locker room we were a bit torn between joy and disappointment. We’ll try to finish the year well, starting this Wednesday in the League Cup.”
