Outclassed in every department, Le Gym were outplayed 0-5, by a visiting Olympique Lyonnais. Nice must bounce back…

A turnover from Dante, an blistering counterattack: Cornet for Depay, and Lyon in front early (0-1, 5’). A brilliant step-over in the box from Cornet, and a clinical left-foot finish (0-2, 17’). A wonderful defence-splitting pass from Aouar for Mariano, who raced clear and fired past Benitez (0-3, 27’). Cornet robbed Seri of the ball, Mariano attacked the defence and the ball fell to Memphis for his second of the night (0-4, 38’).

​That's all there is to say about the first-half.

NO ANSWER

Three days after qualifying for the knock-out stages of the Europa League, Nice had the chance to continue their winning run at the Allianz Riviera, against one of the league's in-form sides. But the visitors took the game by the throat from the get-go and Nice never found an answer. Starting in a 3-5-2 formation at kick-off, Lucien Favre's men were overrun for 90 minutes. Unable to cope with Lyon's movement, there switches of play, their counterattacks, their impact... Lyon's dominance was translated into the scoreboard.

Starved of the ball, Super Mario tried his luck from distance after 10 minutes, and with a powerful free-kick after the interval. Lopes saved both times. At half-time, Lucien Favre rang the changes. On came Lusamba, for Seri, and Lees-Melou for Souquet. The 3-5-2 transformed into a flat 4-4-2, with Jallet switching to the right-back position and featuring two wingers in midfield.

Les Aiglons put their foot on the ball, but lacked the tonic to make things happen. Organised and disciplined, OL sat back and controlled their advantage. After the sending off of Marlon, Le Gym played the last 20 minutes with just ten men and Myziane Maolida added a fifth goal for the guests (0-5, 80').

Nice don't have the time to cry over spilt milk. After a difficult Sunday, it's already time to focus on Wednesday's trip to Toulouse... The opportunity to erase the painful memory of this last weekend in November...

C.D.

---