Despite being pushed around at times by Bordeaux, Lucien Favre's very young side held firm, with an excellent Benitez and - finally - some good fortune.

Deprived of Dante (suspended) and Balotelli (muscle soreness), Lucien Favre opted to make five more changes from the side that played in glacial conditions in Moscow 72 hours earlier. As a consequence, the Gym's starting XI was extremely young (22 on average) and featured winter signing Ihsan Sacko for the first time. 

Fatigued, re-jigged and full of young talent, Lucien Favre's side were guilty of some imprecision playing out of defence early in the match, due no doubt in some part to Bordeaux's pressing. Nonetheless, it was Les Aiglons who managed to carve out the first chance of the match as Plea, played in well by Sacko, fired just wide of Costil's goal.

Good fortune returns

After getting the wrong end of the stick a few too many times in recent weeks, Le Gym could finally be thankful for some good fortune on Sunday afternoon. When it wasn't Benitez proving imperious between the sticks and denying Braithwaite (14') and De Préville (65'), it was the frame of the Argentine 'keeper's goal that saved the day, denying goals to Meïté (12'), De Préville (14') and, in the final stages, Baysse (90') De Préville again (91').

In attack, Alassane Plea put in a hard-working shift as usual and he could have been rewarded had he been a centimeter closer to Lees-Melou's sublime cross (30'). The final minutes were tough for Nice, who were no longer making a mark up front, but who picked up a valuable point against a direct rival. The Aiglons' next chance to keep the points tally ticking over comes next Friday against Lille (19:00 at the Allianz Riviera).
 

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