During the 20th matchday of the Ligue 1 championship, OGC Nice fell to LOSC (0-2) at home. A loss marred by a wrongly disallowed goal in favor of the Niçois, but more importantly, it allowed their pursuers to gain ground in the battle to stay in Ligue 1.
The critics might say that, although the Coupe de France isn’t played until next Sunday, it felt like a match between a Ligue 1 club and an amateur club this Saturday evening at the Ray stadium. Yet, this 20th matchday will certainly bewilder more than one Niçois in the days and weeks to come. Was Lille better? Or was OGC Nice below their usual level of play?
Lille honors its place as leader
Probably both. The Northerners deprived the Azuréens of the ball, forcing them to stay in their half of the field and tighten the defensive line. Then, by muzzling the red and black attack, it was logical for the Lillois to open the scoring. After all, LOSC doesn’t have the best attack in the championship (35 goals) for nothing.
Certainly, if the referee of this match, Mr. Malige, hadn’t disallowed that Nice goal in the first half for an imaginary offside only noticed by the refereeing trio, things might have been different. But let’s be realistic, every spectator at the Ray could see that not only was there a clear difference between the two teams on the field, but that Rudy Garcia’s players were likely not playing at 100%. And the second Lille goal attests to this. It felt like a simple training session, with Moussa Sow appearing isolated on the right side of Gym’s defense before beating Nice goalkeeper David Ospina. “In any case, it’s the best team we’ve seen at the Ray this season. Against a side that was very efficient and very good in the game, you have to be at your best to compete. That wasn’t our case. And, in the end, it makes a huge difference,” admitted Eric Roy.
Concerning for Nice-Lyon next week
In any case, this defeat brings Nice even closer to the relegation zone. Only three points separate them from the first team in the relegation zone, neighboring Monaco. But beyond that, it’s the level of play shown by Julien Sablé’s teammates that is worrying. Especially since January holds major confrontations, including a trip to Bordeaux for the next championship matchday. And before that, it’s the Lyon giant that will stand in OGC Nice’s path for the Coupe de France round of 32. Let’s hope we don’t see a repeat performance…
