Dominated in the first half and in real difficulty for 20 minutes, OGC Nice showed their strength of character on Sunday. Thanks to a second half fight-back, they won 2-1 in Lorient in Ligue 1's Round 13. Youcef Atal and Gaëtan Laborde were the scorers for Nice.

What strength of character! Le Gym were outplayed by Lorient's attacking armada in the first half-hour of the match, but Atal and Laborde turned the tide in the second half to win 1-2 at the Stade du Moustoir, where Lorient were on their best run of the past decade (eight games without defeat, six wins and two draws). Thanks to this precious victory, Nice climb back up to tenth place in Ligue 1 and are on a run of consecutive wins in all competitions.

At kick-off, Lucien Favre had made three changes in his starting eleven compared to the team that started the match against Partizan Belgrade on Thursday (2-1). Schmeichel returned in goal, Todibo in the centre of defence and Ross Barkley in a playmaker position, behind Nicolas Pépé at centre-forward. Nice's system remained a 4-2-3-1 (or 4-4-2 depending on Barkley's placement).

Nice concede after several attacks from Lorient

It was England international Barkley who quickly came to the fore. Latching onto a good cross into the box from Youcef Atal, the former Chelsea player was hampered by a rebound and could not get his shot away (3'). After this first attack from Le Gym, Lorient clicked into gear, as they have done since the beginning of the season, and put Les Aiglons on the back foot by winning a lot of challenges and by being more aggressive on the ball carrier. The first alerts for Le Gym came from attempts by Le Goff (6') and Le Fée (7').

Schmeichel then pushed away a header from a corner (9'). The Danish goalkeeper then saved Les Rouge et Noir again by deflecting a Bard clearance perfectly into a corner after a cross to the far post from Ponceau (10'). The home side were determined to make life difficult for Nice and they duly set up camp in front of Nice's goal. After a back-post cross from Le Bris, Diarra saw his powerful shot go just over Schmeichel's goal (13'). Nice were outplayed by Lorient's intensity and initial cracks gave way to a gulf as Ouattara headed Le Fée's corner past Schmeichel to open the scoring for the Bretons (1-0, 18').

After this goal, Lorient continued to put pressure on the Côte d'Azur side. The Danish goalkeeper stopped the home side from doubling their lead by authoritatively swatting away two Diarra attempts (22' and 25'). But Les Aiglons, with their backs against the wall, raised their heads and looked dangerous. Atal's cross into the box was pushed away by Mvogo, but the ball came back to Pepe who shot - only for Lorient's  last bastion to deflect the ball wide for a corner (27'). After the half-hour mark, Lucien Favre's team were playing higher up the pitch, had possession of the ball and created several chances, such as Brahimi's shot, which was turned wide for a corner (31').

The breakthrough finally came from Youcef Atal, who had just made an impressive solo run into the area. Once again, the right-back broke through and eliminated several Lorient defender with a deft touch before firing with the outside of his right foot. Mvogo made a good save and the ball came back to Atal, who tried his luck again but saw the ball fly over the bar (34'). Nice were dominated during a big part of the first half and were thus logically behind at half-time.

Atal's flash of genius lights the way

After the break, Laborde replaced Ross Barkley and Les Aiglons started the second half with more movement. After a good one-two with Boudaoui, Pépé tried his luck with the inside of his left foot in the area but it went over (50') and Laborde's shot from the edge of the area was blocked (52'). Atal then broke the lines and found Lemina in the box, but the midfielder couldn't get it past the safe hands of Mvogo.

Then, just as he was about to be substituted on the hour-mark, Youcef Atal once again decided to take charge of matter and lit the fuse with a flash of brilliance. The Algerian accelerated down the right and showed off his talent by brilliantly cutting out several Lorient defenders before unleashing a left-footed shot that flew into Mvogo's goal. Le Gym were right back in it (1-1, 61')!

Galvanised by this equaliser, Lucien Favre's men had only one objective in mind: to score a second and win the match. Le Gym have plenty of character and showed it perfectly. From an inch-perfect Laborde cross, Pépé had a great chance that only failed to beat Mvogo due to its lack of power. A minute later, after a pass from Boudaoui, Laborde scored the second goal with a deflected shot that lobbed the hapless Mvogo (1-2, 69').

Nice managed the last few minutes well and were solid in defence to hold onto the scoreline. Lotomba, who came on for Atal, looked to make an instant impact as he deflected Aouchiche's shot off the line for a corner (85')! In the last seconds, Nice held firm and Pépé almost surprised Mvogo with a left-footed shot following an interception high up the pitch (89'). Le Gym, with character, won against Lorient.

Two appointments this week

On top of Conference League Group D - tied on points with Partizan Belgrade - Les Aiglons will travel to Cologne next Thursday to round out the group-stage campaign (kick-off at 21h). Les Aiglons have their fate in their own hands and can qualify for the knockout rounds against the German side. Three days later, Les Rouge et Noir will receive Stade Brestois at the Allianz Riviera (R14, 15:00).