Valentin Eysseric is your Crédit Agricole Aiglon of the Match for the 2-1 victory over Bordeaux. Decisive and spectacular, the attacking midfielder earned 47% of the vote. He beat Mario Balotelli (29%) and Vincent Koziello (11%) to the award.

“When we have our head a little bit under the water, we always have a player who gets us out of it. It was Wylan for a while, Alassane before that. At the moment, it’s Val’ who is allowing us to breathe. We are really happy for him and for us.” In the corridors of the Allianz Riviera, Yoan Cardinale couldn’t praise Valentin Eysseric enough. Praise that was deserved by the playmaker who, at 25 years old is becoming one of the forces of this Spring. Solid and technically sound, the number 13 has the ability to cause damage with just one touch. One movement. With his left or his right, back to goal or not, he enjoys himself and encourages the others to do the same. He never gives up, as is shown by the 7 recoveries he completed against Bordeaux (the highest total in the Nice side). Through a sublime strike with his right, he scored his third goal of the season and currently has 5 assists to his name. Satisfied but nevertheless demanding, Eysseric commented: “I am often told to shoot, I don’t do it much. Today, I did it and I succeeded, it’s good for everyone because it secured the win for us. We need to do it more often.”

Behind the playmaker came the striker. On the scoresheet and picking up an assist, Mario Balotelli had an excellent match against the Girondins. Stronger than his opponents, he dealt with the impact, despite some dirty tactics. Without faltering, he put away his 11th goal in L1 with an unstoppable penalty; before setting up Valentin Eysseric for the jewel of a second goal. The Italian was equally present defensively and he could even have got a second in the second-half, as his powerful strike was just about parried away by Carrasso.

Finally, Vincent Koziello completes the podium of this Nice-Bordeaux. On his return to the starting eleven, the midfielder spared no effort. Omnipresent in the heart of the battle, where he started alongside Mika Seri, he didn’t flinch one bit when the pressure from the visitors was upped in the second-half. With the ball at his feet, the number 26 remained true to himself: (very) often accurate and always tidy. A quick look at the stats reflects a pure and efficient style, given that the youth international had 73 touches and succeeded with 93% of his passes.

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