In their second match of the day (following a 2–1 win against Feyenoord), the youthful line-up fielded by Franck Haise held out for a long time against Bundesliga side St. Pauli, before conceding late in the match.

THE STORY OF THE MATCH

After a balanced start, Alexander Blessin’s players gradually took control and created the more dangerous chances. Several times, Hountondji and his teammates found openings but were either imprecise or thwarted by Maxime Dupé, who captained the side on Saturday afternoon.

On the other side, Les Aiglons tried to respond and managed to create a few good chances, but Evann Guessand lacked the finish, sending one shot too wide when clean through on Vasilj, and narrowly missing with a lob that just cleared the crossbar.

Goalless at half-time, and more of the same after the break. Franck Haise’s side continued to hold firm and even came close to scoring through Bernardeau, but it was ultimately the Germans who broke the deadlock with a somewhat lucky first goal, then sealed the win moments later.

THE GOALS

After withstanding Bundesliga pressure for most of the match, Maxime Dupé and his teammates finally cracked with under ten minutes remaining.

From a cross from Pereira-Lage, Amidou Doumbouya, who otherwise had a solid matc, accidentally headed the ball into the path of Scott Banks, who unintentionally beat the Nice goalkeeper (83’).

A few minutes later, Finley Stevens put the result beyond doubt, finishing off a neat exchange with Abdoulie Ceesay inside Nice’s box (88’).

 

WHAT SYSTEM FOR GYM?

With most of the first-team regulars starting against Feyenoord earlier in the day, Franck Haise fielded a relatively young line-up, supported by a few experienced players like Dupé, Abdi, Boga and Guessand. It was a youthful side, but the tactical setup remained familiar—a three-man defence with two wing-backs. In central midfield, Tom Louchet was paired with Djibril Coulibaly.

One small tweak to the typical 3-4-3 formation favoured by Haise: Gabin Bernardeau was given the freedom to roam between the right flank and central midfield. Late in the match, other academy players such as Bouard, Youssouf and Telusson got their chance to shine, but they couldn’t stop the Germans from earning a deserved win.

After an intense week of training in Austria, the squad now heads back home to continue preparations for the season opener, including a key clash against Benfica on 6 August.

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