On their trip to Metz, OGC Nice were defeated 2–1 on Sunday during Matchday 12 of Ligue 1. The sole goal for the Nice side was scored by Mohamed-Ali Cho. 

Three days after a difficult defeat in the Europa League against Freiburg (Matchday 4, 1–3), Franck Haise’s men were beaten by an FC Metz side riding the momentum of two consecutive Ligue 1 victories.

Despite a tough start against the side from Lorraine that was stronger in duels and dangerous on the counter-attack, as shown by Cheikh Sabaly’s missed chance following a high recovery by Habib Diallo (9’), the Aiglons still managed to open the scoring late in the first half. Although they had struggled until then to build their play, the visitors put together a superb move starting from Yehvann Diouf, continuing through Sofiane Diop, and finished off with a fine curling shot from Mohamed-Ali Cho after an assist from Charles Vanhoutte, the captain for the evening (0–1, 35’).

MISSED CHANCES

Reinvigorated by that opening goal, the Nice side finished the half stronger and could even have doubled their lead before the break, if Kevin Carlos had made better use of his shot from the edge of the box (39’), or if Jean-Philippe Gbamin hadn’t blocked Diop’s near-post deflection following a cross from the right (42’).

After those lively final ten minutes, the start of the second half proved painful for the Niçois. Shaken first by Giorgi Tsitaishvili’s shot that struck the crossbar (49’), Vanhoutte and his teammates were then punished when Juma Bah conceded a penalty for pulling Diallo’s shirt. Gauthier Hein made no mistake, converting with a perfectly placed shot that left Diouf no chance (1–1, 53’).

The remainder of the match was evenly balanced, offering few chances for the spectators at the Saint-Symphorien Stadium. The game finally tipped in the closing stages, when Diallo, perfectly played through by Gbamin, won his one-on-one with Mendy before slotting the ball past Diouf, just under the bar (2–1, 84’).

Despite one final scare with a mis-hit effort from Bah following a flick from Terem Moffi (90+6’), the Aiglons ultimately fell to defeat. They will head into the international break sitting ninth in the league table and will return to action against OM at the Allianz Riviera on 21 November 21 at 20:45.

Hugo Rondet