Le Gym were beaten by Montpellier on Friday evening in the opener of Matchday 25 of L1 (1-2). 

Frustrating. That is the word that best describes OGC Nice's defeat (1-2) on Friday against MHSC. Set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Gaëtan Laborde returning to the starting eleven instead of Evann Guessand, Les Aiglons began the match with the desire to move forward and secure their second league victory of 2024. However, from a Téji Savanier corner, Francesco Farioli's men were unfortunate early on when Jean-Clair Todibo, after a ricochet in the penalty area, saw his intervention inadvertently deceive Marcin Bułka (0-1, 10').

LES AIGLONS RESPONDED

Driven by the desire to bounce back, a week after the setback in Toulouse, Dante and his teammates took only 32 seconds to get back into the game. Following a brilliant cross-field ball from his captain, Laborde was able to cut back onto his left foot to deliver a well-placed cross that was headed in by Jeremie Boga (1-1, 12'). Scoring his fourth goal of the season, the Ivorian international allowed Nice to begin a period of domination.

Pressing, intensity, link-up around the penalty area... Les Aiglons pushed, missing several chances to take the lead. After a pass from Hicham Boudaoui, Laborde tried to find Khephren Thuram, but his acrobatic attempt narrowly missed Benjamin Lecomte's goal (28'). The Nice midfielder then saw his shot blocked by Kiki Kouyaté as he prepared to strike from inside the penalty area (29'), before missing the target again (31').

Only really looking dangerous from set pieces before the break, it was from a free-kick that Téji Savanier, the man in form for Montpellier, managed to catch the Nice defence off guard for a second time. With a delicate chip, the Montpellier captain found Wahbi Khazri, whose first-time shot ricocheted off Laborde's arm from close range. Harsh. The penalty was then converted by a solid Savanier who wrongfooted Bułka (1-2, 42').

GUESSAND TRIED EVERYTHING

The Red and Blacks then struggled to trouble the visitors who were compact in their half in the second period, leaving little space to exploit. Nice could have been caught out on a lightning counter-attack if Thuram hadn't made a last-ditch intervention to thwart Savanier, who was very close to beating Bułka from close range (55').

It was only after Francesco Farioli's tactical change and the switch from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 that the residents of the Allianz Riviera began to create chances again. Coming on for Pablo Rosario, Evann Guessand stood out with his trademark runs, such as his drive into the visitors' half followed by a shot just wide of the target (68'). Unsuccessful, Nice's number 29 then saw his last chance effort repelled by a vigilant Lecomte at the end of added time (90+3').

Despite dominating the statistics (66% possession, 19 shots) and a very late contentious situation, when Jordan Ferri seemed to be late in his challenge on Mohamed-Ali Cho in the penalty area (90+2'), Les Aiglons failed to find their way back into the match. They will have the opportunity to bounce back in five days, on Wednesday, in a fiery Coupe de France quarter-final at Paris Saint-Germain.

Hugo Rondet