Dijon 0-1 Nice

Le Gym get going again

Deserved winners over a Dijon side who played with ten men in the second half, the Red and Blacks turn the tide with a win away from home and have set themselves up for an interesting end to the season. 

The features of the match 

Without a win away from home since the start of November and their win over Nîmes, Les Aiglons were able to make the most of a trip to face a side in difficulty in order to turn around their form. Currently in the relegation zone, Les Dijonnais started the game with an attacking line-up, (the two sides had the joint 18th best attack in Ligue 1 at kick-off). But apart from the first minutes of the game and a floating strike from Sammaritano which slipped past the post (4'), Antoine Kombouaré’s choice didn’t pay off and the home side rarely broke into the Nice box.

Les Rouge et Noir could have opened the scoring from their first chance of the game, if they’d had a bit more luck. A corner sent in by Cyprien was flicked on by Danilo’s head, but the ball smashed against Runarsson’s post and Hérelle couldn’t quite get the rebound on target (10’). The Brazilian was the most effective Niçois in the first half. He popped up once again just before the break with a great run through the middle, before striking at goal, which Runarsson pushed off for a corner (45').

After a first half that lacked chances and was held back by some technical mistakes, the second half proved to be more open. Frédéric Sammaritano saw red for a second yellow card for simulation in the Nice box and the game changed (54'). A tough one to take for the home side, and it was quickly followed by another, as Pierre Lees-Melou got the opener after an excellent counter attack (60'). 

Les Aiglons thought they had the chance to kill the game off when Danilo was brought down in the box after an excellent run past three Dijonnais players (85'). But after consulting with VAR, Mr Rainville overturned his decision. Something that saw five minutes of injury time that would be filled with nerves for Les Rouge et Noir who held their breath after a foul from Jaziri (89') on the edge of the box and Coly’s misplaced pass (90'+5). They were to be without consequence for the Niçois who now have 44 points and provisionally sit in 7th place.

The coach’s choices

With Malang Sarr and Youcef Atal missing, Patrick Vieira opted for a back four, in which Olivier Boscagli was celebrating his second consecutive start. The Nice coach went for a 4-3-3 with Makengo in a false nine role and the Srarfi / Sacko duo on the wings. Makengo shone in the second half with two strikes at goal that were both dealt with by Runarsson. Sacko was involved in the only game of the match, as his strike (which followed a good move from Cyprien) was pushed  away by Runarsson into the path of Lees-Melou.

Le Gym’s coach gave young Tunisian, Assil Jaziri his debut as he replaced his compatriot with twenty minutes to go. The young attacking midfielder from the reserves struck at goal with his first touch and showed some interesting signs of initiative.

The Nice goal 

60': A few minutes after Sammaritano’s red card, Ihsan Sacko was played in by Makengo behind the defence. The former Strasbourg forward struck at Runarsson but Pierre Lees-Melou followed up on the rebound and scored into the open goal from 20m.

A.D.

Dijon, Stade Gaston-Gérard,
Dijon FCO 0-1 OGC Nice (half-time 0-0)

Week 30 of L1 - 31/03/2019

10 000 spectators approx.

Referee: Nicolas Rainville

Goal: Lees-Melou (60') for Nice

Yellow cards: Sammaritano (29'), Marié (39') for Dijon; Burner (66') for Nice

Red cards: Sammaritano (54') for Dijon

Dijon FCO: Runarsson - Chafik (Alphonse, 81'), Yambéré, Lautoa, Haddadi - Marié, Amalfitano, Sammaritano - Kwon (Tavares, 68'), Jeannot (Kaba, 75'), Saïd

OGC Nice: Benitez - Burner, Hérelle, Dante (cap.), Boscagli - Cyprien, Danilo, Lees-Melou - Srarfi (Jaziri, 73'), Makengo (Tameze, 81'), Sacko (Coly, 90')