Nîmes 1-2 Nice

Huge heart and a second consecutive victory!

Forced to defend for the majority of the second half and down to ten men from the 50th minute, Le Gym held on to the victory with enormous heart in Nîmes (1-2). A second in two matches in L1. Six points already in the bag. 

The features of the game

In order to succeed in Nîmes, Le Gym was always going to need some guts and temperament. Les Niçois didn’t lack either. Better still, they went out and battled, held on and put their hearts on the line for teammates and supporters, who were unfairly prevented from travelling from Alpes-Maritimes. All of their efforts were rewarded, at the end of a long evening, with more than 100 minutes of play.

Before closing shop to secure the three precious points, first up, an excellent first half performance, thanks to the Cyprien – Ganago duo. After seven minutes, the Cameroonian - who was in excellent form at the Costières – broke free from Briançon, struck at goal from within the box, and the Crocos’ captain could only block with his hand. Wylan opened both his foot and the scoring (0-1, 8’), converting his penalty with a calm head.

Eight minutes later, “the scorer turned provider”, as the Nice midfielder sent in a powerful free-kick towards goal. A free-kick that was turned home by ‘Ganagoal’s’ knee (2-0, 16’).

After that, Le Gym couldn’t find a third, Lees-Melou found Bernardoni after a superb pass from Sacko (23’). Then the Crocos showed their teeth. Without shying away from their battles, the men from the Côte struggled slightly just before and just after half-time. Something that had an impact on the score. Although his first goal was ruled out by VAR due to offside, Ripart made the most of a questionable incident, which Mr. Letexier decided deserved a penalty after consulting with VAR. In question? A tackle from Cyprien on Miguel - who was offside at the start of the move. Nîmes reduced the Niçois’ lead before heading into the dressing rooms (1-2, 45+1). 

Clémentia got down to deny Ripart at the start of the second half. In the minutes that followed, Coly left his teammates down to 10, after an extremely harsh second yellow card (51'). The task at hand became more complicated. Ferhat quickly found the post (55’), and the fixture effectively became attack versus defence, with several dangerous chances for the Gardois, and two for Les Azuréens (a solo run from Burner with a strike just over the bar in the 71st; and an off-target attempt from Tameze, after an excellent ball from Lees-Melou in the 81st. The final quarter of an hour of the match was simply unbearable. Stifling. However, Nice held on and delighted in the victory once the referee blew his final whistle. 

Coach Vieira’s choices

Without nine members of the squad, Patrick Vieira didn’t make any changes to the structure of his starting eleven at kick-off. Just as they had done in pre-season and on many occasions last season, Le Gym started the match in 4-3-3.

In front of Clémentia, who played his second match in L1 on Saturday, the four-man defence was made up of Burner, Herelle, Dante and Coly (starting for the first time in L1 since the trip to Saint-Etienne on 18 May).

In the middle, Lees-Melou, who was suspended against Amiens, returned to the starting 11, on the left of the three. On the right was Tameze, while Cyprien started in front of the back four. 

Up-front, Ganago played on the right wing, Sacko on the left. After returning to Le Gym this summer after his loan to Cercle Bruges, Lusamba played through the middle. His last appearance in the red and black shirt dated back to 3 February 2017 at the Allianz, against Toulouse.

After Coly’s early dismissal (51'), Pelmard came on for Sacko and played on the left of the defence. Le Gym switched to a 4-4-1, with PLM at left midfield and Lusamba alone up-front.

Lusamba then made way for Cissé in the final quarter of an hour. Finally, Thuram replaced Ganago for the last ten minutes, in an attempt to steady the ship as much as possible. 

Other results from Week 2 of L1

League table  

 

Nîmes, Stade des Costières,
Nîmes Olympique 1-2 OGC Nice (1-2 at half-time)

Week 2 of L1 - 17/08/2019

Approximately 15 000 supporters 

Referee: François Letexier 

Goals: Ripart (45', pen.) for Nîmes; Cyprien (10', pen.), Ganago (16') for Nice

Yellow cards: Valls (26'), Martinez (71', 90+8'), Philippoteaux (88'), Alakouch 90+1') for Nîmes; Coly (11', 51'), Herelle (35'), Cyprien (44'), Tameze (73') for Nice

Red cards: Martinez, Briançon (90+8') for Nîmes; Coly (51') for Nice

Nîmes Olympique: Bernardoni - Alakouch, Briançon (cap), Martinez, Miguel - Valdivia (Sarr 58'), Valls (Philippoteaux 79'), Bobichon - Ferhat, Ripart, Duljevic (Stojanovski 68')

OGC Nice: Clémentia - Burner, Herelle, Dante (cap), Coly - Tameze, Cyprien, Lees-Melou - Ganago (Thuram 83'), Lusamba (Cissé 76'), Sacko (Pelmard 52').