Le Gym are back on track! On Saturday, they secured victory at home over Dijon in Week 6 of L1 (2-1). After falling behind, Patrick Vieira’s side were able to react and then dominate, thanks to goals from Dolberg and Atal. 

The features

To find the back of the net without losing their balance: this was the task that laid ahead of Les Aiglons at kick-off. A difficult task, particularly against a Dijon side that is incredibly quick in the transition and their attacking moves. The men from the Côte managed it, under the falling rain, showing constant seriousness and at times, brilliance. 

On Saturday, we saw lots of positives: senior players up for the battle, careful movement, inspiration in attacking areas and some classy moves. But without finding that killer goal, nobody was able to relax until the final whistle. 

The duel between Tavares and Coly from the first minute of the game, where the Dijon forward commited a foul, set the tone for the rest of the game. The whole of the first half, and on the whole, all of the game, continued in the same way. In attack, Le Gym played high up the pitch, combined well and were often a real pleasure to watch. But defensively, the opponent troubled the home side with their speed. The visitors even took the lead when Tavares got in behind, opened his foot, and beat Benitez (0-1, 22’).

In the minutes after the first goal, the Argentinian stopper made a decisive stop to deny an N’Dong header (26’). The whole of Nice breathed a sigh of relief, and then the whole of Nice rose to its feet shortly after, following an excellent move. The move that provided the equaliser once again proved that the most beautiful individual talent is nothing compared to the delight of excellent team moves. In the 29th minute, Cyprien – who was impeccable throughout the game - found Ounas. The Algerian playmaker flicked the ball on excellently first time for Dolberg, who clipped his left foot effort over the onrushing Gomis, to celebrate his first home start in the perfect manner (1-1, 29’).

The equaliser didn’t change things though: Both sides looked dangerous in attack and continued to make chances. 

At the break, they went in neck and neck. Both in terms of the score and chances. Haphazardly: Dolberg connected with a header after a ball in from Lusamba, but couldn’t beat Gomis (14’), Atal ended an excellent team move with a strike over the bar (15’), Ounas did exactly the same (15’), Coly’s effort was stopped by Gomis, before he was signalled offside (38’) and Ounas ignored an unmarked Atal through the middle, after a smart one-two with Lees-Melou. For Les Dijonnais, apart from N'Dong’s header, Benitez almost brought down Mavididi (18’) and denied Tavares with his feet before the half-time whistle (40’).

Atal’s lightning bolt

Atal gave his side the lead from the very get go in the second half. Cyprien won the ball back high up the pitch and Lees-Melou played the ball to his left, which found the feet of the Algerian. His run was perfect: but his finish was even better. Often subdued by the powerful Alphonse in the first half, the former Paradou man attacked the box, kept the right amount of space, and at the moment when everybody expected him to accelerate past the keeper, he smashed the ball into the back of Gomis’ net, a missile that was  as instantaneous as it was accurate. 

After this, Le Gym continued to attack, created several chances (for Lees-Melou, Atal and Ganago). The Red and Black defence dropped deeper and Benitez was there when he was called into action.

Le Gym secured a precious win. Their fourth of the season, which allows them to climb into the top three after six games.

The ideal way to head into the derby in Monaco (who were held to a draw by Reims) on Tuesday. 

Patrick Vieira’s choices

As he has done since the start of the season, Patrick Vieira started his side in a 4-3-3.

At kick-off, Benitez was in between the sticks.

Burner and Coly started either side of the four-man defence. The central duo was made up of Pelmard and Nsoki, starting for the first time in the red and black shirt.

In midfield, in front of Cyprien who played in defensive midfield, Lusamba and Lees-Melou played the box-to-box roles.

Finally up-front, as against Montpellier, Ounas and Atal played alongside Dolberg.

In the second half, the coach made three changes. Ganago replaced Ounas, Sarr came on for Coly and Claude-Maurice for Dolberg. 

The 11 that finished the match: Benitez - Burner, Pelmard, Nsoki, Sarr - Lees-Melou, Cyprien (cap), Lusamba - Atal, Ganago, Claude-Maurice.

The results from Matchday 6

The league table

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