Driven forward by thousands of Rouge et Noir fans, Les Niçois picked up a solid 3-0 win over Monaco at the Stade Louis II this afternoon, with Terem Moffi scoring his first brace for Le Gym.

They hadn’t won there since 2014. Today, nine years later, Nice turned on the style to get the win at the Stade Louis II. Driven forward by the Rouge et Noir fans, they got stuck into a derby that will forever bear the mark of Terem Moffi. We knew that the Super Eagle was comfortable playing in behind, and tonight, he confirmed that wide-open spaces were his kingdom. In the eighth minute, he got himself on the end of a crossfield ball from Dante to shake off Axel Disasi and beat Alexander Nübel in a clever blend of power and precision. That early opener put Le Gym in the driving seat, and although a lack of ambition could have knocked them out of it, their mindset allowed them to get comfortable in what was a one-way encounter. Monaco had heavy legs after bowing out of the Europa League on penalties on Thursday, and Les Niçois made the most of it to cause them further misery – with aggression, talent, strength, determination and drive.

After starting the game in a 3-5-2, with Ayoub Amraoui making his debut in the starting XI and Youssouf Ndayishimiye making his return, Nice closed down all of the spaces leading to their own goal and opened up all of the ones leading to ASM’s goal, using Moffi’s pace to carry out their game plan beautifully and punish almost any lost ball. After Dante, it was Khephren Thuram’s turn to send the former Lorient man into orbit in the 26th minute, with the same result as earlier on: a high-intensity combination, coolly finished off to make it 2-0. The roles were reversed in the 43rd minute, as Moffi offered the ball on a plate to Thuram for the third, with the France U21 international not needing to be asked twice to haunt the club that developed him.

Five touches in the opposition box, three shots and three goals. At the break, it was practically game over, although as every Nice fan with a decent memory will know, a three-goal lead at Louis II doesn’t always lead to victory.

DIFFERENT SYSTEM, SAME TOGETHERNESS

Adapting to the four changes made by the opposition at the interval, Didier Digard switched to a 4-5-1, bringing the excellent Ndayishimiye forward into the role of holding midfielder.

It paid off, too. Le Gym retreated but were never truly tested, aside from an off-target volley from Caio Henrique in the 80th minute. They even created chances to widen the gap further, but strikes from Thuram (57’) and Moffi (67’) were pushed away by Nübel, whilst Brahimi, through on goal, was stopped in his tracks by Malang Sarr (84’).

After an immense display, OGC Nice achieved what they hadn’t managed to do since 2014: win at the Stade Louis II.

They win their second south-coast derby of the season following the 3-1 win away to Marseille and extend their fine unbeaten run, with six wins and two draws since Didier Digard took charge of the team. With 41 points, they also come to within three points of sixth-placed Lille and to within five points of fifth-placed Rennes.

Le Gym now host Auxerre next Friday in the opening game of Matchday 26, with kick-off set for 21:00 CET.

C.D.

Alexandre Debbache (Kick Off Prod)