Nîmes 0-1 Nice

The Gym continues its run

Shaken in the first half by a very rough (at times, overly so) Nîmes side, the Aiglons made the most of their numerical advantage to make the difference after the break and to continue their excellent run.

And it’s four! Without particularly shining, the Aiglons did, however, do the necessary on Saturday evening at the Stade des Costières. Walter Benitez kept a clean sheet for the third consecutive Ligue 1 match and the Aiglons have recorded their second consecutive victory away from home after the win at Bordeaux.

Although the only goal of the match was scored on the hour mark, the destiny of the game was decided in the first half. From the first second of the game, the Gardois put pressure on the Nice defence. A successful tactic which paid off when Thioub stole the ball from Malang Sarr in the box before being brought down by the young Niçois. Benoît Bastien didn’t hesitate and pointed to the spot (4’). But Walter Benitez, who had already made one penalty save to deny Bourigeaud in September, waited until the last possible moment to move to save Umut Bozok’s effort. His shot along the floor ended up in the Nice keeper’s gloves and the Argentine had saved his side’s start to the game.

The match was played on a particularly greasy pitch given the rain that had fallen in the past days, and so the first half was very scrappy. Faïtout Maouassa picked up two deserved yellow cards in five minutes after fouls on Danilo and then Cyprien (14’ and 20’). At ten against 11, Nîmes tried their luck from distance on several occasions, without managing to trouble Benitez. The Gym tried to find gaps in the Nîmes defence by moving the ball around, but some technical inaccuracies prevented Patrick Vieira’s side from really looking dangerous. Only a blocked shot by Cyprien (27’) was of note. As the two sides prepared to return to the dressing rooms, another unexpected development happened, after a very dangerous tackle by Landre on Atal (45’+2). Mr Bastien had no other choice but to send off the Nîmes defender, leaving his side down to nine men.

The second half continued in the way that you might expect given the circumstances. Nîmes Olympique tried to keep things tight with two compact lines of four, whilst the Aiglons dominated possession and tried to open the game up as much as possible. The Gym finally put Bernardoni to work, first of all through Balotelli with a powerful strike along the floor (55’) then by Jallet  (59’). The French youth international keeper made two fantastic saves, but had no chance with the third. After a long cross from Sarr towards Youcef Atal, the young Algerian international half-volleyed first time into the back of the net (61’).

After taking the lead, you could have thought that the Gym was going to break free, but it never quitte happened. Still as agressive as they were in the first half, the Crocos defended their goal with all their might, throwing themslelves at every ball as if it was the last. As expected, it was from set-pieces that the home side had the opportunities to trouble Benitez’s goal, but Savanier from a free-kick (58’) and Ripart from a corner (83’) didn’t find the target and the Argentine had no reason to worry. The Nîmes keeper made save after save to deny Cyprien (89’), Atal (71’, 93’) in order to keep his side in the game, and to allow Nîmes Olympique to hope for a bit of theatre in the final seconds, when he went up to attack a free-kick (90’+5). Nothing came of it and the Gym secured a fourth consecutive victory - a third in Ligue 1 - to move into the top third of the table for the first time this season.

A good result that will allow the Aiglons to work calmly in the next two weeks during the international break, before welcoming LOSC, currently in second behind PSG, at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday 25 November.

A.D.

Nîmes, Stade des Costières,
Nîmes Olympique 0-1 OGC Nice (half-time 0-0)

Week 13 of L1 - 10/11/2018

14 290 spectators

Referee: Benoît Bastien

Goal: Atal (61') for Nice

Yellow cards: Maouassa (14'), Valls (90'+2), Savanier (90'+4) for Nîmes; Danilo (17'), Balotelli (29'), Hérelle (57'), Jallet (65'), Maolida (72') for Nice

Red cards: Maouassa (22'), Landre (45'+2) for Nîmes

Nîmes Olympique: Bernardoni - Ripart, Briançon (cap.), Landre, Maouassa - Savanier, Valls - Thioub (Alioui, 82'), Bozok (Lybohy, 45'+5), Guillaume (Paquiez, 46'), Bouanga

OGC Nice: Benitez - Atal, Hérelle, Dante (cap.), Sarr, Jallet - Tameze, Cyprien, Danilo (Ganago, 46') - Maolida (Walter, 87'), Balotelli (Makengo, 75')