Nice 1-1 Celtic

Le Gym getting up to speed

A little less than one week after the defeat at the hands of St Etienne (4-1), Les Aiglons raised their game against the Scottish champions. Despite a strong start for Celtic, Patrick Vieira’s side stood strong to withhold the opposition’s attacks and bit by bit, took a hold of the game, with Dolberg leading the line and getting the opener. The Scots pegged Le Gym back, after Klimala intercepted a poor clearance from Boulhendi (1-1).

Les Rouge et Noir had a difficult start, with their opponents dominating the possession of the ball in Les Aiglons’ half. After a long spell of possession, the Bhoys thought they had taken the lead through Edouard. The French youth international made the most of a ball into the middle to take the ball past Benitez and finish into the back of the net, before the referee disallowed the goal for offside.

As the minutes went by, the encounter became more and more balanced and the pressure eased on the Nice defence, as the two sides kept the ball well.

In the 21st minute, Les Azuréens got their first chance of the match from a corner and came close to beating Bain. At the back post, Dolberg found the target with a header and forced the Scottish stopper into a save. Thuram picked up the rebound but sent his effort over the bar.

In the minutes that followed, Benitez was called into action, getting down well to deny Christie after a cross was sent in from the left.

The two sides continued to trade blows. And in the 39th minute, Le Gym did the needful and opened the scoring after a delightful showing from Dolberg. In midfield, Lees-Melou and Gouiri combined well before the former Lyon man found the Dane on the edge of the box. Nice’s top scorer from last season beat five defenders in the box and beat Bain with a smart right-footed effort (1-0, 39’).

Four minutes later, Les Rouge et Noir created another chance just before the break after a well constructed move. Dolberg crossed from the right and Gouiri tried to back heel the ball at the near post.

The start of the second half was remarkably similar to the first. Christie came close to the equaliser but just pulled his shot wide with his left foot, and Les Niçois took control of the ball and pushed towards the Celtic goal.

On the hour mark, Patrick Vieira and Neil Lennon made significant changes. Although the chances on goal became rarer and rarer as the minutes went by, Celtic made the most of a poor clearance by Boulhendi to grab the equaliser through Klimala (72', 1-1). The closing stages of the match were understandably impacted by the numerous changes made by both sides, and they left the field on level terms.

Le Gym’s next and final match in the Trophée Veolia takes place on Saturday against Rangers, in what will be the club’s fourth encounter of pre-season, once again at the Groupama Stadium (kick-off at 6.15pm).

The match in images:

Khephren Thuram started in the Nice midfield

Kasper Dolberg controls the ball in the air

Odsonne Edouard’s goal is ruled out for offside

A first start in the first team for Théo Pionnier

Ihsan Sacko

Jean-Victor Makengo, Ihsan Sacko and Théo Pionnier

Pedro Brazão

Salim Ben Seghir

Hicham Boudaoui

Décines-Charpieu, Groupama Stadium,
OGC Nice 1-1 Celtic Glasgow (1-0 at half-time)

Trophée Veolia - 16/07/2020

Referee : Willy Delajod

Goals : Dolberg (39') pour Nice; Klimala (72') pour le Celtic

OGC Nice : Benitez (Boulhendi, 61') - Pionnier (Atal, 61'), Bambu (Daniliuc, 70'), Pelmard (Dante, 61'), Kamara (Hamache, 70') - Makengo (Trouillet, 61'), Thuram (Parsemain, 61'), Lees-Melou (Mestrallet, 70') - Sacko (Boudaoui, 61'), Dolberg (Brazão, 61'), Gouiri (Ben Seghir, 70')

Celtic Glasgow : Bain (Hazard, 61') - Frimpong (Elhamed, 61'), Jullien (Welsh, 61'), Ajer, (Bitton, 61') Taylor (Bolingoli, 61') - Brown (c) (Robertson, 61'), Christie (Ntcham, 61'), Mcgregor (Soro, 61') - Elyounoussi (Henderson, 61'), Edouard (Klimala, 61'), Forrest (Dembele, 61')