Shaken up by a rugged Bordeaux side, the Aiglons held on to take home their 44th point of the season and to secure their position at the top of the league at Christmas. 

Defeated 2-3 in Gironde last week in the Coupe de la Ligue, Nice returned to the Matmut Atlantique to face a Bordeaux side who knew that they couldn’t afford to lose their last game of the year,  having been on the receiving end of two heavy defeats in L1 against Monaco and Montpellier.

With Dante picking up an injury in the dying seconds of Sunday’s match between Nice and Dijon, Le Gym started the game with an experimental defence, with two left-footed players at centre-back and a right-footed player on the left hand side, who was also making his debut in Ligue 1. In spite of the defensive reshuffle and being forced to substitute goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale due to injury after an hour, Le Gym’s defence resisted and succeeded in keeping a clean sheet. 

After the first half, you could well have expected the Aiglons to take all three points back to the Côte d’Azur. A strong shot from Balotelli struck in his usual manner put Prior on edge (26’) and the keeper was once again put under pressure by a shot from Plea just missing the target, having just about stayed onside after a pass from his Italian team-mate. Nice dominated the first-half, having 73% of possession and were only put under real pressure on two occasions. Both when the ball was not cleared from their penalty area and fortunately, neither Malcom (27’) nor Rolan (34’) could manage to turn the ball home.

The second half was more difficult for Le Gym, and the effect of the squad’s 10th game in one month showed. Bordeaux racked up several corners and hit the woodwork on 54 minutes through Rolan. With Cardinale picking up an injury, Walter Benitez made his debut in the league and left his mark with an impressive save from Laborde’s powerful effort (83’).

The second-half was open and could have gone either way and it could almost have gone against the Aiglons in the final moments of the game. The point gained seems to be a positive result, even if Nice will lament the two red cards pick up in injury time by Balotelli and then Belhanda, targeted by an (overly) agressive Bordeaux side. 

Thanks to this draw which assures its unbeaten run, OGC Nice will spend the festive period at the top of the table for the 14th consecutive match day, with 44 points on the board, a historic record for the Club has been smashed.

A.D.

---