Morgan Sanson and the Aiglons did not tremble against the Merlus this Friday. VALERY HACHE / AFP
At a standstill in recent weeks, the Aiglons took advantage of the arrival of poorly ranked Lorient, relegated, to pocket three precious points in the race for Europe and the C1.
Nice has not said goodbye to the Champions League. With only one small victory in their previous eight Ligue 1 matches, the Aiglons, long runners-up to PSG, slipped out of the Top 4. They took advantage of the arrival of Lorient to replenish themselves (3-0) this Friday, during of the first match of the 30th day. Morgan Sanson, Jeremie Boga and Evann Guessand shook the Merlus nets. Nice remains fifth in the standings but is two points behind Lille (4th). Holders of the worst defense in the championship, the Lorientais are 17th, with the same number of points but a worse goal difference than Metz, who moved up one place… without having played.
After a rhythmic first few minutes, it was OGC Nice who took control quite quickly. Hindered by the opponent’s ball releases at the very start of the game, the Aiglons were able to resolve this problem in midfield to recover more balls and become more dangerous. Kephren Thuram almost deceived Yvan Mvogo with a header (18′) after Jérémie Boga’s dangerous shot (16th), a little too cross. The light finally came from Morgan Sanson. The former Montpellier player recovered the ball in the Lorient camp and infiltrated the area before shooting Mvogo at the near post, under the bar (21st, 1-0).
Bamba in tears
The rest of the first act was in the same vein. The Niçois in control against the Lorientais who struggled to get the ball out and find themselves. The Aiglons failed to double the lead several times. Ali-Cho did too much in the area before hitting too weakly (35′), Kephren Thuram lacked lucidity by hitting into the clouds (37′) and Sanson, well placed in the area, missed the double (41′) before mid -time 1-0 MT).
Always the same expression when returning from the locker room. During one of the rare climbs of the Lorientais in the Nice camp, the Merlus were caught at their own game. Morgan Sanson found Ali-Cho on the right. The Riviera winger overflowed and crossed. Blocked, the ball arrived at Boga who rolled on the ground, on the opposite side. Isaak Touré blocked it in his own net, but the shot was well targeted (2-0, 54th). The Lorientais, through Kroupi who replaced Bamba (62′), in tears on the bench, tried to get back into the match. But they were never really dangerous. The people of Nice took advantage of Breton largesse to project themselves, like Todibo. The central defender, who left on the left, found Guessand in the center (3-0, 89th).
