For their first friendly of the summer, against FC Stade Nyonnais, the Niçois put in a solid and hard working performance. Over and above the result (4-0 victory), the 21 players used (Plea, Le Bihan and Eysseric were rested) played fairly and in the right spirit. The week in Divonne got underway in the right manner.

Two teams, two halves: Lucien Favre had announced the idea before the match, and the coach respected his strategy. Both of the line-ups, the first more experienced, the second younger, put in a good performance. In a 4-2-3-1, the first 11 wasted no time in making the difference. Sure of a solid base, (Cardi in between the sticks, Souquet and Dalbert out wide, Dante and Le Marchand through the middle), the Gym put their foot on the ball from the get go. Coming out from the back cleanly  thanks to the two midfielders (Koziello, Walter), and then easily finding the 3 attacking midfielders (Lees-Melou, Srarfi, Marcel) and using a mobile Super Mario as a solid support. Opposite them, Nyon tried to quickly put intensity into the duels, with their feet raised. Strong but fair. But the side who finished 3^rd in L1 last season quickly created a series of opportunities.

Mario hit the post from close after following in on a parried header from Dante (10'), before a superb opener was scored by Bassem Srarfi. In the 13^th minute, the Tunisian playmaker starting at number 10, who was mobile, rapid and technical, smashed into the top left corner, after a dummy in the box. He secured his brace 10 minutes later, making the most of an interception 30 metres out (2-0, 23'), then hit the bar with a header, just moments later. Inspired and lively. Then Balotelli, set-up by Lees-Melou, thought he had secured a third goal, but the former Dijonnais was given offside. The Red and Blacks left nothing to chance with the Swiss 3^rd Division side and were very clean with their passing and their movement.

A la mi-temps de son 1er match amical de la saison, le Gym mène 2-0 à Nyon grâce à deux buts de Bassem Srarfi #OGCNSN pic.twitter.com/bVn4MreLRg

— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) 1 juillet 2017

The second line-up – in which Bassem Srarfi was the only player to stay on the pitch – was  dominated by the youngsters of the squad. With the captain's armband, Malang Sarr was imposing at centre back, alongside Gautier Lloris, with both directing things together. The introduction of the youngsters couldn't slow down the Niçois though.

In the middle, new recruits (Tameze, Makengo) put in a good show, the first of the two finishing the scoring in the game (88'), thanks to a strike that repaid the accuracy of his distribution. On the wings, the duos of Burner-Lusamba and Boscagli-Perraud worked well, and the right back (Burner) even allowed himself a driving run concluded by a shot that was boxed away with just 15 minutes still to go.

Serious from start to finish, 'the team from the second half equalled what the side before it had managed thanks to a smart shot from Vincent Marcel, which was badly dealt with by the opposition goalkeeper (73').

After this first outing, the Aiglons can now focus on the rest of their pre-season, which will come around quickly, given that two sessions await them on Sunday.

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