Beaten by Salzburg and Caen before the break, the Aiglons got back on the front foot by silencing the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne with a 1-0 victory. Le Gym remain on top of the Ligue 1 standings..

Overtaken on goal difference by Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain over the course of the weekend, the Rouge et Noir knew they would be handed a stiff test away to Saint-Etienne on Sunday night. Les Verts, unbeaten in six Ligue 1 matches, had their hearts set on handing the league leaders a second consecutive defeat.

While the Gym set up in a 4-3-3 (or 4-3-2-1), ASSE took the field with a five-man defence. Starved of possession by Nice (the stats were 63/37 in Nice's favour at the break), Galtier's men didn't really look like they wanted to break out of their own half of the pitch, likely due to fear of Nice's prowess on the counter. As a result, the first half was a tense tactical battle. Mika Seri was the first to threaten, following a strong run and superb cut-back from Ricardo, but the Nice midfielder's shot was too close to Stéphane Ruffier (29'), whose Nice counterpart Yoan Cardinale was also called into action, holding out a strong hand to Nolan Roux's effort (33').

Solid throughout the first half, Le Gym managed to lift their game on the hour-mark. Starting on the left with Belhanda and Dalbert, the move then involved Eysseric, who picked up the ball on the edge of the area. The player who spent last season on loan at Saint-Etienne then jinked his way past Loïc Perrin and lashed an unstoppable shot past a helpless Ruffier and into the roof of the net. It was a sublime opener for Le Gym and proved the kick-off for a completely new match (0-1, 63'). 

Behind on the scoreboard, Les Verts had to change their plans. "If there's one team you really don't want to fall behind to, it's OGC Nice," testified Christophe Galtier after the match. It certainly wouldn't have escaped the ASSE coach's attention that, after taking the lead, the Aiglons took the match by the horns. They couldn't manage to kill off the contest, despite several great chances for the indefatigable Alassane Plea, who saw shots hit the woodwork (65', 67'), a header saved by Ruffier (68') and had his toe-poke blocked by Malcuit after a dazzling run (85'). This narrow advantage allowed Saint-Etienne to hope of an equaliser right up until the final whistle, but Le Gym, cool, calm and collected, didn't allow them as much as a single shot on target throughout the whole second half. 

So the Aiglons return to the Côte d'Azur with three points - they now have 32 in total - and sit in sole control of the Ligue 1 table. They will be in Germany on Thursday before playing host to SC Bastia on Sunday (17:00 at the Allianz Riviera) for a derby already promising to be a boisterous affair.

A.D.

 

---