Intense Rivalry Between RC Lens and OGC Nice Comes to a Head on the Field

While the rivalry between RC Lens and OGC Nice has intensified behind the scenes in recent months, it was a question of the field this Saturday evening for the 26th day. Marked by degraded relations between leaders, the clash between the 5th and 6th in the Championship in Bollaert promised to be tense. On the sidelines of the meeting, Riviera supporters were even attacked in a parking lot.

From the kick-off, the occupation of the field and the chances were Lensoises. Francesco Farioli’s players opted for efficiency. Faced with a rearguard placed very high on the pitch, Mohamed-Ali Cho, supported by Terem Moffi, took great pleasure in devouring spaces on several occasions. In an initially innocuous situation, Facundo Medina even had the ball stolen by the pocket winger and set off at full speed to serve the Nigerian on a plate (11th).

An effective Moffi-Cho duo

Five minutes later, do it again. The roles were reversed but Moffi, who could/should have gone alone, served his teammate who sent Bollaert into the sky (17th). A few days after being deprived of his striker against PSG in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France (3-1) for a delay to the chat, Francesco Farioli could exult when seeing the enthusiasm of his front duo. More generally, the performance of his team, 17th in the ranking in the return phase before the meeting, was enough to put a smile on his face.

After the break, Elye Wahi, on a serve from David Pereira da Costa, made Bollaert roar. But, leaving too early, the attacker was logically flagged offside by the assistant referee after a moment of hesitation. In the following minute, Nampalys Mendy further destroyed Lensois hopes. A poor transmission from the Senegalese was intercepted by Cho and the former Angevin, for his second assist of the evening, instantly launched Khephren Thuram to double the lead (53rd).

Nice did not give up at the end of the match

By pushing, in vain, Lens cracked. Immediately in the tough, Abdukodir Khusanov, who came on at the break in place of Jonathan Gradit, who was hit in the calf, conceded a corner, although it seemed at the time that the ball had been touched last by Evann Guessand. The corner kick in the process was fatal for the Uzbek, guilty of an unacademic belting on Pablo Rosario. Calmly, Terem Moffi took Brice Samba on the wrong foot to add to the score and score a double (67th).

The reduction in the gap signed by Wahi a quarter of an hour from time, on a splendid strike from the left, was only an illusion (76th). Disciplined, the Niçois held their backs in the face of the artesian assaults and Marcin Bulka relieved his team as soon as danger reared its ugly head. With this success, after six matches without a victory, Nice temporarily moved to 4th in Ligue 1. Lens for its part fell to 6th place.

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Mohamed-Ali Cho delivered two assists this evening while he had only recorded 3 in his last 91 matches (Ligue 1 and Liga combined).

2024-03-16 21:58:00
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