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The Gym have been knocked out of the Coupe de France. Beaten (4-1) by an efficient Toulouse side, the Aiglons will now be able to fully concentrate on the league in the second half of the season.

OGC Nice and the cups are now finished for this season. After elimination from the Round of 16 of the Coupe de la Ligue, the Gym travelled to Toulouse with a young squad.

Although the Aiglons went toe to toe with their opponent in the first half, they were punished by the realism of the home side on two occasions in the final five minutes. With a two goal deficit at the break, Patrick Vieira revised his plans, and brought Srarfi and Sacko onto the pitch. The second of the two took just three minutes to justify the coach’s decision, smartly finishing after some great work from Tameze, and reduced the gap to just one (2-1, 48').

We thought that the match was back on, which was indeed the case for the next twenty minutes as the two sides were neck and neck. The Gym were playing higher up the pitch and looked dangerous through Sacko (54') Cyprien (61') and Sylvestre (66’), who looked impressive on his first start as a professional. Toulouse were looking to hit on the counter and from one of these counters, Dossevi was able to perfectly head home Gradel’s cross (3-1, 68'). This third goal hurt the Niçois who had thought that they were back in the game. In the final quarter of an hour, the Gym tried to react but Vieira’s young side left too much space for the opposition who  then had numerous chances. At the end of the encounter, Jullien’s header was parried by Benitez, and Garcia was there to turn home for a fourth.

For the Gym, now it’s time to focus on the league with the visit of Bordeaux on Saturday at 8pm at the Allianz Riviera.

A.D.

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