Frédéric Antonetti’s return to his native Saint-Étienne promised to be intense despite the usually freezing temperatures in Forez, and he and his red and black team are returning to the warmer Côte d’Azur with three points in their pocket.
The disappointment in Le Mans was forgotten after the Monaco feat, and here are the reinvigorated Eaglets with a fine victory over a Saint Etienne team that would have liked to join AS Monaco in the seventh place of Ligue 1 with a win.
However, they hadn’t counted on the quick thinking of Gym’s new recruit, David Bellion, who capitalized on a loose ball from the talented Saint-Étienne goalkeeper to catapult his teammates to the upper half of the table, landing them in tenth place just behind their princely neighbor. This neighbor will face them next Saturday in the Ray stadium for a rematch of the last Coupe de la Ligue semifinal.
Despite a late-game advantage for the greens, the Nice reed bent but did not break, and Frédéric Antonetti’s tactical choices, closer to his players than ever, proved fruitful. It was a beautiful victory indeed by the narrowest margin (1-0), to the greatest delight of the thousands of Nice fans who are expected to turn out in large numbers at Ray stadium next Saturday.
This 2006 vintage OGC Nice is a fine year, and time will tell if the European dream, which seemed far off just a few weeks ago, could become a reality as soon as tomorrow.