What a superb afternoon at Allianz Riviera! Against a courageous Nantes side, Le Gym did the business, recording a precious 4-1 victory – and in some style!

With the sun high in the sky, a big crowd in attendance, and entertainment on the pitch: what could possibly go wrong for Nice on this beautiful Autumn day? Nothing, as long as Le Gym produced another flawless recital. And that was the case, for large periods of Sunday’s match that sees Lucien Favre’s men extend their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings to six points, from Monaco and Paris. For 80 minutes, the home side played with confidence. The only difficult period came early in the second half – not enough to wipe the smile of Nice fans’ faces. Nantes are historically, a tough opponent for Le Gym, and they almost opened the scoring when Stepinski broke down the right and crossed for Bammou, who didn’t make the most of the opening. Le Gym didn’t panic. It was a feature of the afternoon, in which they countered every visiting attack and turned on the show for the fans.

Les Rouge et Noir stepped it up another gear. On the left of four-man defence, Ricardo Pereira won possession 40 metres out of from goal and burst down the flank, before serving Belhanda. The Morocco international, the conductor of Lucien Favre’s orchestra, lifted the ball towards Mario Balotelli, who was brought down in the area... only for Wylan Cyprien to follow up and net his first of the afternoon.

Buoyed by the goal, Les Aiglons were in cruise control. Nantes, who struggled all day to get to terms with Nice’s three-man midfield and balls in behind the defence (apart from a 15-minute period after the restart), were overrun.

Nice enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, led by the duo Cyprien and Seri who set the tone. Super Mario was in sublime form and Alassane, on the right side of the 4-3-3 was hard-working and inspired. The direct style of play that worked so well against Metz a week earlier was in evidence again on the half-hour when Mika Seri produced a wonderful ball over the top for Balotelli. The Italy international doubled the advantage with a wonderful outside-of-the-foot finish.

Nantes produced the rare excursion into Nice’s penalty box in the first half, but Nice were a cut above and never looked troubled, were it not for an off-target effort from Guillaume Gillet after 30 minutes. Confident... Very confident...

Show of pride

... Over confident. Indeed, Nice were punished for a silly mistake. Mathieu Bodmer took an unnecessary risk at the back and lost possession. Emiliano Sala seized the opportunity to get a goal back for the guests. Perfect for the suspense. But cruel for the dominant home side. From another turnover in possession, Stepinski tried his luck from 20 metres out, but Cardinale made a comfortable save. Nantes grew in stature, in the knowledge that errors at the back could give them hope. Stepinski, unmarked, six metres out, fired wide (52'), Diego Carlos went within a whisker of equalising at the back post from a corner, but missed his volley (59’)...

It was too much for the locals, who refused to throw the game away. They quickly bounced back, erasing any trace of doubt that may have been creeping into their game.

Alassane Plea restored the two-goal advantage by out-jumping Riou to score from Mika Seri’s perfect corner. And then Wylan Cyprien got his second, finishing off a neat one-two between Ricardo and Balotelli, and a superb pass from the Portugal international. It was the fifth goal of the season for the former Lens skipper (his fourth in the league), who was all over the pitch on Sunday.

Stunned, there was no way back for FCN this time. Le Gym comfortably controlled the end of the match. The home side continued to make their visitors work, as they rediscovered the ingredients from the first half: technique, precision, speed...) and regaled their supporters. And all neutral observers who were watching.

At the end of Week 11, OGC Nice remain the only undefeated side in Ligue 1. Sitting pretty atop the standings, it was the perfect way to prepare for next Thursday’s Europa League clash at home to Salzburg.

The next chapter of this thrilling start to the season...

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