At times under pressure from a good Lille side, OGC Nice held on to come through as 1-0 winners on Sunday at the Allianz Riviera. Gaëtan Laborde took advantage of Badredine Bouanani's selflessness to score the only goal of the match. 

After two weeks of work, OGC Nice put in a complete performance on Sunday. That being said, it was a difficult task against a team that looks to play offensive and dangerous football. In line with their last two outings, Didier Digard's team showed desire, aggressiveness, a determined defensive performance, technical quality and also huge heart to hold on to their victory. The starting 11 served to reinforce this continuity, because the coach put his trust in the same men as in his first two games since taking charge, with one exception, Badredine Bouanani. And what an exception! 

Starting in place of Nicolas Pepe, who was out of action due to knee pain, the young winger showed his class, technical accuracy and ability to inspire during an excellent hour on the pitch. His first start in L1. A first league start in which he picked up his second assist in four first team appearances. In the 34th minute, the Lille-born and bred forward, who signed his first professional contract with Le Gym in the summer of 2022, sniffed out Cabella's mistake like an old hand. He pounced on a misplaced back pass, went toe-to-toe with Chevalier and, just as he was about to finish, offered the goal on a plate to Gaëtan Laborde, who did not hesitate to score his fifth goal for Le Gym (1-0, 34'). The move had started at the other end of the pitch, with a free-kick for Les Dogues, which was cleared by the Red and Black defence and transformed into a real opportunity by the attackers. 

AN UNBEATABLE SCHMEICHEL 

At this point of the match, the opening goal seemed to be slightly fortunate for Les Aiglons. They had already conceded 4 or 5 big chances, created thanks to the speed and the directness of the side for the north of France. But each of them was denied by an incredible Kasper Schmeichel. The Danish international stopped a shot from Bayo (10'), then Cabella (22'), got into the head of the Lille man forcing him to miss the target when through one-on one (25'). He won another duel with Cabella, after Todibo had lost the ball in midfield, and JC sprinted back to take clear the ball for a corner after his keeper's save (28'). Schmeichel then turned Weah's shot onto his post after another one-on-one 32', just moments before the match turned for the better… 

In the first half, the Red and Blacks also created chances: a Thuram shot was saved by Chevalier (9'), a Laborde overhead kick couldn't find the target (13') and a Bouanani curling effort just missed the target (20'). 

In the second half, Le Gym looked good and almost doubled their lead quickly. Thuram won the ball back high up the pitch, broke through and delivered a clear pass to Ramsey, whose shot on goal was blocked by Chevalier (59'). The team continued to showed agression, and from the hour-mark onwards they began to bring on fresh legs, giving the side a boost. Youssouf Ndayishimiye (who made his first appearance in the Red and Black shirt), Pablo Rosario, Billal Brahimi, Ross Barkley and Youcef Atal all made an appearance. They dropped off and looked to attack on the counter, without ever succumbing. They conceded just one real chance, when an excellent Melvin Bard got in front of Jonathan David to save his side.

Down to ten men after Youcef Atal was forced off through injury, Le Gym held on to secure an important three points. They travel to Lens on Wednesday for Matchday 21 (kick-off 9pm).