OGC Nice confirmed its good momentum by winning at Saint-Étienne (1-3) during the 24th day of Ligue 1. A victory marked by offensive realism and collective solidity.
Nice starts the match well and opens the scoring in the 10th minute. Mohamed-Ali Cho bursts down the left side and finds Gaetan Laborde at the edge of the area. His cross is met by Jonathan Clauss, whose attempt is saved by Gautier Larsonneur. Pablo Rosario follows up and heads in the rebound. The Eagles lead (1-0).
Saint-Étienne responds in the 30th minute. Taking advantage of a poorly positioned Jonathan Clauss, forward Lucas Stassin gets behind the defense and sets up Aimen Moueffek. The latter lays it back for Lucas Stassin, who finishes into the empty net. ASSE equalizes (1-1).
Nice regains the lead at the start of the second half. In the 52nd minute, Jonathan Clauss bursts down the right side and sends in a powerful cross in front of the goal. Mickael Nadé tries to intercept in front of Pablo Rosario but scores an own goal. The Gym takes the lead again (1-2).
The team from Nice secures their win in the 69th minute. Baptiste Santamaria moves the ball up the left side but loses possession. Jonathan Clauss recovers high and serves Cho, who fakes a shot before slipping the ball to Evann Guessand. The forward beats the Greens’ goalkeeper with a precise finish. Nice breaks away (1-3).
The score remains unchanged. With this victory, Nice strings together a fourth consecutive win in Ligue 1. The Eagles already have seven wins in 2025, more than in the entire first half of the season. Evann Guessand continues his fine form with 17 decisive contributions in the championship. OGC Nice confirms its efficiency and remains firmly in third place in the standings. The Gym puts pressure on Olympique de Marseille, level on points but who will play tomorrow against Nantes.
The post-match reactions
Franck Haise: “It was a difficult match because we didn’t do what was needed after the first ten minutes when we had a great chance on a set-piece. A goal scored. We needed to stay active, proactive, and enterprising, which we didn’t do in the first half. So, we had to, let’s say, adjust things.
Then, we saw in the second half what the players were capable of, which was entirely different. AS Saint-Étienne was under pressure for a large part of this second half. We scored two goals and could have perhaps scored at least one more. But we showed a real second half. We shouldn’t just have one good start.
It shows all the work that remains to be done mentally to go even further. Because this team with the players it has should have the ambition to move forward, although we won’t win every match. Especially when I see the training sessions we have, there’s definitely room.”
Baptiste Santamaria: “The first half was a bit difficult. Then we got a wake-up call at halftime from the coach, and we came back with better intentions and played the match we needed to in the second half. Plus, we were only retreating, not pressing enough. In the second half, we adjusted and realized it was much better. We got a talking-to, let’s be honest, the coach said what needed to be said. It was beneficial, we must continue this way, and that’s how we will achieve our objectives.”