A single goal and the season for OGC Nice starts with a defeat on their home ground. A disappointing start not very reassuring, highlighted by a missed penalty by Monzon and a glaring inefficiency in front of the goal. They will need to be more convincing next Saturday at Valenciennes to avoid hosting Lille, the following weekend at the Ray, with an already existing obligation to get results.
It was the Corsicans who got going first with the initial minutes all in their favor, and naturally Eduardo took advantage of a good cross from a lively Diarra to adjust the Nice goalkeeper (0-1). The eaglets were hit but not sunk and tried to get back in the game as quickly as possible, but without success for Bauthéac and Monzon, while Ochoa kept a watchful eye on the Corsican defense. There were few opportunities to get excited about during this first half, and the first substitution for Nice occurred with Alexy Bosetti replacing the injured Coulibaly. Ruddy Buquet could send both teams to the locker rooms with a relatively logical advantage for the islanders.
The match resumed under a stifling heat that did nothing to help the flow of the game, and Mostera might have paid the price early on by receiving a perhaps harsh red card. Reduced to ten men, the Corsicans retreated, and it took a beautiful save from Ochoa to push away a diving header from Dja Djédjé headed for the net. The Ajaccians were retracted into their half, but the Nice incursions were not very dangerous. Mr. Buquet could even have awarded a penalty for Bauthéac around the hour mark, but he did not, before finally granting the ultimate sanction following a foul by Poulard, warned for the occasion, on Bosetti. Monzon, the Azurian cannoneer, stepped up but the crossbar saved Ochoa, who got a yellow card for protesting. The game started to heat up and Monzon even believed he’d found the net on a free kick, but it was ultimately just the outside side netting that trembled.
The Corsicans held their ground and, even reduced to ten men, were close to extending their lead, but Medjani’s deflection only resulted in a goal kick. Castellana replaced Monzon for Nice, while André made way for Tibéri for the Corsicans as the minutes relentlessly ticked away on the scoreboard, still in favor of the islanders. Bosetti’s last attempts yielded nothing and it was a surprise victory, even if well-deserved, that Alex Dupont’s men brought back to the Island of Beauty for their first away game of the season. As for the Niçois, they will need to be much more clinical in front of goal in the coming weeks to hope for better outcomes, with the trip to Valenciennes next weekend already set to be a good test for Claude Puel’s charges, who missed his debut in the Ray’s den. “We hadn’t planned for this scenario, but we still executed some good sequences. The scenario was quite negative with Ajaccio’s opening goal and Coulibaly’s injury. We didn’t manage our set pieces well. There was certainly determination, but we were too disorganized.”
Meet again next Saturday to see if they can right the course to avoid losing their way in Valenciennes!
Photo credit: www.ogcnice.com
