In a largely scrappy match, Le Gym were unable to get the win against FC Metz. The Niçois will therefore have to put up with a share of the points from their first game of 2017 at the Allianz. 

There was desire and chances but a lack of inspiration - a brief summary of Nice’s 20th league game of the season. It wasn’t for a want of trying to take the game to Metz, but Lucien Favre’s side were unable to break down their solid and disciplined counterparts.

It was to be the visiting side that had the first opportunity of the game, when Nguette performed some trickery before shooting towards the Nice goal, but goalkeeper Walter Benitez was able to save comfortably (14’). The tone was set: in order to get the points, the Aiglons would need to attack but at the same time paying extra attention to the Metz counter-attack.  Unfortunately, the Red and Blacks were only able to achieve the second part of this plan and could therefore only add one point to their tally for the season. 

At kick-off, Nice set up in an unusual 3-4-3 formation, seeing the return of defensive giants Baysse and Dante in the heart of the defence, Koziello and Cyprien holding in the centre of midfield, whilst Lusamba and Ricardo gave width to Plea who was playing through the middle. But the Aiglons struggled to set the right tempo with this formation. They controlled the ball well but rarely took the game to Metz, allowing the Red and Blacks to nullify most threats from the opponent. As the first-half progressed, the Niçois became more and more dangerous but without being able to deliver the final product. Just before the thirty minute mark, Ricardo showed his acceleration and took his chances from the edge of the box, but saw his effort turned round the post by a Metz defender. Shortly after, Vincent Koziello managed to break into the box and he again tried his luck… without success.

Arnaud Souquet, extremely active down the right-hand side, also had an opportunity when he shot at goal, but to no avail as it was stopped by Didillon. Lacking in ingenuity, but not in effort, the home side really put the current occupiers of 20th place in the league under sustained pressure as half-time approached. Paul Baysse got on the end of a corner from Wylan Cyprien but the ball skimmed past the legs of Dante…

The spark wasn't there

The Aiglons were almost punished by a Metz free-kick at the start of the second-half, when the ball fell to Renaud Cohade just 6 metres from goal. Walter Benitez threw himself towards the ball and pulled off a magnificent save to keep the score at 0-0. A rare opportunity in such a tight match. The false rhythm of the first-half would be drawn out in the second however. The Red and Blacks showed glimpses without really letting themselves off the leash.  But they didn’t give up.

Taking advantage of the pace of Ricardo, Alassane Plea fired a shot towards goal and hit the bottom of the frame of the goal (66’). This was to be the Gym’s best chance and it was clearl the didn’t have the legs to take a real dominant hold of the game. Towards the end, they even needed to show strength and desire to keep the clean sheet and to take a point from the game. A sense of frustration will be felt after this game….

C.D.

 

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