In their fourth pre-season game, OGC Nice lost to Cagliari on penalties (0–0, 4–2 on penalties) in the second edition of the Gigi Riva Trophy.

For the second edition of the Gigi Riva Trophy, the Unipol Domus was full for the visit of OGC Nice. This fourth pre-season friendly got off to a difficult start for Les Aiglons. For the first five minutes, Le Gym struggled to get a hold of the ball. Without panicking, Olivier Pantaloni’s men managed to get back on track and created the first chance of the match. Following a cross from Melvin Bard, the ball fell to Jonathan Clauss, who tried his luck with a half-volley inside the box but failed to hit the target (11'). Le Gym then suffered an early setback. After taking a knock to the knee, Laurent Abergel was forced to leave the pitch (17'). Nevertheless, Nice managed to retain possession, but without posing any real threat. It was the Sardinians who were to pose the danger. Paul Mendy stole the ball from Junior Mandza’s feet inside the 18-yard box before finding Yael Trepy’s head on the penalty spot, forcing Yéhvann Diouf into his first save (34'). Before half-time, Sofiane Diop took advantage of a well-placed free-kick just outside the box to test the Cagliari goalkeeper, who punched the ball clear (39').

SOLID YEVHANN DIOUF

After the break, it was a completely different story. Although Gauthier Hein was the first to make his mark with a shot saved by Elia Caprile (46'), it was the Sardinians who took control of the game. Pressed by an Italian side playing higher, the Aiglons found themselves in trouble. Adopo’s header went wide (55'), before Trepy was denied by Youssouf, who made a crucial clearance in the box (62').

All this before Yéhvann Diouf took centre stage. The Senegalese international dived perfectly at the near post to parry Romano’s effort (59’), before quickly getting down to save a low shot from Fazzini (68’) and making a final save on his line late in the game (88’).

When the final whistle blew, with the two sides still level, a penalty shoot-out was needed to decide the winner of the second edition of the Gigi Riva Trophy. Despite successful penalties from Isak Jansson and Everton, the Aiglons ultimately lost due to a perfect penalty performance from the Rossoblù and misses from Hamza Koutoune and Nassim Laaerj.