In the post-match press conference, Nice coach Lucien Favre regretted the choices that were made after his side took the lead, which he believes lead to an equaliser for Angers.

Coach, yet again it’s a case of two points dropped after taking the lead…

It’s a shame because the three points were within reach. Angers went for broke after we went ahead by playing with two forwards. In terms of managing the lead, we had a lot of possession but we took risks at times when we shouldn’t have. We also made some bad decisions. The cost of these errors was a goal when there had been no danger initially. They weren’t putting pressure on and we lost the ball on our own. We tried to get back in front and we had some chances but it wasn’t to be.

Is it difficult to get going against a team that’s so tightly packed together?

We played quite high up the pitch because Angers were defending very deep. We had to be patient but above all accurate against a team lined out in a 4-1-4-1 formation. We either had to go down the sides or through the middle by being very accurate, which wasn’t how it turned out. We lost possession too often by looking for things that were impossible to pull off.

Plea scored again while playing in the number 9 position…

He scores in the two positions he plays in – through the middle or on the left wing. We’ll analyse that in the coming days but it’s mainly the collective performance that I’m interested in. It’s the balance of the team that counts. But it’s good for Alassane that he’s continued his goalscoring run.

With these two points left behind you, are you worried about losing ground depending on the other results this weekend?

We’re aware that every match is important now. There’s no point talking about ‘if’ something happens. We’re not giving up on anything – we’re taking things game by game. We’re going to continue to work hard. We’ll have to be more exact but above all more intelligent – in our communication and our passing. We’re trying to impose our game but tonight the match has to finish 1-0. 

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