At the bottom of the league since the start of the season, Toulouse nonetheless defeated a lifeless Nice last night (2-0). Like Gazélec before them, the team from the pink city bounced back against the Gym and won for the first time since August 9th.
Short on ideas. As if the status of being the favorite once again clipped the wings of the eaglets. As if winning in Toulouse or in Ajaccio was more difficult than in Saint-Etienne or Marseille. With the chance of securing a second place after Lyon’s defeat on Friday, Nice had enough reason to look forward to the match at the Stadium. But the Nice team never seemed in a position to claim the three points.
The biggest chance of the match even occurred as early as the 8th minute of play. On a cross from Maxime Le Marchand, Jéremy Pied took a shot that was difficultly turned away for a corner by Lafont, the 16-year-old Toulouse goalkeeper. Four minutes later, Ben Yedder opened the scoring, or at least thought he had. Offside. A case of postponed celebrations.
Nice can’t get by with ten men
Because in the second half, Ben Yedder struck. A superb knee control, solid footwork against Bodmer, and a well-placed low shot. Typical Wissam Ben Yedder. Especially against his favorite victim in Ligue 1. In eight matches against Nice, the Toulouse number 10 has scored 7 times. This 57th minute even felt like the final whistle as the rest of the game was flat. Not necessarily boring but without any twists. Everything was decided earlier.
At the half-hour mark, precisely. Breaking away on the left flank, Martin Braithwaite outpaced Mathieu Bodmer. He advanced to challenge Hassen in the box, dribbled, and forced the Gym’s goalkeeper into a mistake. Said Enjimi applied the rules and showed the red card. Nice was down to 10 men. Braithwaite converted the penalty, and Nice was also trailing in score. The 3-5-2 formation, maintained by Claude Puel, then turned into a 4-3-2 lacking ideas. The outcome was a second goal conceded and not much for Nice to chew over. Usually so effective away from home, Nice will have a chance to catch up. This will be on Tuesday in Lorient, before hosting Paris the following weekend.
Photo credit and more information at www.ogcnice.com
