Nice 0-1 Sporting Portugal

Diligent but beaten

On Saturday, the Gym fell to defeat (0-1) against Sporting Portugal in its second friendly of the summer. After dominating in the first half, and being dominated in the second, Patrick Vieira’s side brought its trip to Divonne to a close in a decent manner.

Rhythm, style, commitment: as expected, the second match of the summer was a friendly only in name - thankfully for the players and the thousand odd supporters who made the trip. After an intense week of training, the men from the Côte showed decent amounts of calmness in their play during the first half, before being affronted with more difficulties in the second.

Set-up in a 4-3-3, with Danilo just in front of the defence and Ihsan Sacko at the tip, they had the bulk of the possession. With an impeccable defensive quartet (Burner, Hérelle, Dante, Coly), the tone was set by a strong triangle (PLM, Danilo, Cyprien)  who dominated in the middle. The squad brought all of the necessary ingredients in order to put in a good performance. And one thing in particular: application.

Up against them, Sporting, who played at home (with a big Portuguese community living in Geneva) had a very good answer to the Nice side with a quick and technical  4-4-2. Unsurprisingly, given that the side battled on the European scene last season, and they came into their own as the Red and Blacks’ legs tired. 

The two teams had a couple of good opportunities but there were no clear cut chances in the first 45 minutes. Sacko was just centimeters away, but he couldn’t  get onto a cross from Coly in the early stages of the game; Dante also lacked a bit of luck after he rose above everybody else but saw his header pushed away by Viviano. Saint-Maximin lacked a bit of lucidity on goal but, as always, was difficult to tame.

For Sporting, a big strike from Montero flew over (21’) and an effort along the floor from Belloli (31’), which Benitez was able to deal with smartly, were the two most dangerous moves in the first half of the match.  

Heavy legs

A technical error in the centre circle by Lees-Melou was perfectly taken advantage of by the Green and Whites as they returned to the pitch. A couple of short passes and a rapid attack allowed them to open the scoring thanks to a superb strike from Matheus Pereira (0-1, 53'). They failed to double their lead straight after as Montero missed his one on one with Benitez (55'). 

After that, the Gym struggled. Coach Vieira changed things bit by bit without changing his system. Romain Perraud - came on to play on the right wing - struck with his left but his effort was boxed away by Viviano (65'). It was copied just minutes later by JV Makengo, but with the same result. 

Playing high up the pitch, the Niçois were almost punished by a quick counter, but Cabral, put off by Souquet, missed the target.  

The last move of a very good session. 

The Gym will head back to Nice this evening to continue its preparation, before traveling to Charleroi next weekend, for  its 3rd friendly of the summer. 

C.D.

Divonne, Stade municipal,
OGC Nice  0-1 Sporting Portugal (0-0 at half-time)

Friendly 2 - 14/07/2018

1002 spectators 

Referee: Benoit Millot 

Goals: M. Pereira (53') for Sporting Portugal.

OGC Nice: Benitez - Burner (Souquet 70'), Hérelle (Pelmard 60'), Dante  (Boscagli 70') (cap), Coly (Hamache 70') - Lees-Melou (Makengo 70'), Danilo (Tameze 60'), Cyprien (Walter 60') - Saint-Maximin (Sylvestre 80'), Sacko (Diaby-Fadiga 60'), Marcel (Perraud 60').

Sporting Portugal (starting eleven): Viviano - Ristovski, A. Pinto, Mathieu (cap), Agbenyenu - Petrovic, Misic, Wendel - Belloli, M. Pereira, Montero.