Nice slapped by Lazio, Galatasaray hanging in Latvia, Tottenham ensures

Fifteen days after a frustrating draw against Real Sociedad in C3 (1-1), Nice had a meeting with another big team this evening, namely Lazio Rome, and away. This time, the Riviera club will have no reason to be frustrated, as it was dominated head and shoulders by its opponent, who had fielded a second or even third team at kick-off (4-1). Following on from their victory on Sunday against the former Serie A leader, Torino, the Biancolesti were able to impose their pace from the start, which could have cost Nice much more in the first period. Under the pounding downpours of Rome, the waves broke against Bulka’s goal, and we were not far from the cold shower with a first alert from Vecino at 20 meters (9th), then from Pedro, finally caught by a Ndayishimiye as a firefighter on duty (11th).

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The Polish goalkeeper was then able to give thanks with his bar from a corner (12th), then again from a strike from Castellanos (14th). Active, but too unproductive, the people of Nice were finally punished. Faced with the laxity of the GYM defense, Pedro sent a missile into the top corner of Bulka, saved two seconds earlier by Clauss following a corner taken by… Pedro (20th, 1-0). Decidedly everywhere, the former Barça this time took on the costume of the smuggler by putting Castellanos into orbit. The Argentinian took advantage of Ndayishimiye’s clumsiness, found himself facing Bulka, and adjusted him with a subtle dive ball to make the break on his 26th birthday (30th, 2-0). To say that the GYM then dominated the debates would be a bit of an exaggeration, but it at least occupied the opposing part of the field, and even had the merit of reducing the gap thanks to Boga, following a good relay with Moukoko (41st, 2-1).

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Lazio – Nice: Dante’s hot reaction

Galatasaray hangs in Latvia, Tottenham does the job in Hungary

As soon as they returned from the locker room, the Nice defense no longer really knew where to turn. The passing circuits between Pedro, Castellanos and Vecino were likely to make one dizzy, but Bulka remained alert, just for a moment. Launched deep by the incoming Rovella, Castellanos ridiculed Rosario, stared at Clauss, and sent a warhead under the helpless Pole’s bar (53rd 3-1). Real poison in his directions and his movements, the Argentinian even had the opportunity to score a hat-trick from the penalty spot, but left it to the incoming Zaccagni after having provoked him (65th, 4-1). On a pitch that was on the verge of being passable, Nice still had a last hope of scoring, but Guessand, after a number in the area, was hampered by the return of Pellegrini, while Mandas disgusted Moukoko.

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Nice, 26th out of 36 in the single C3 group, will now have to concentrate on the championship with a shock against Paris on Sunday. In the other matches of the evening, the surprise came from Latvia. Little thumb of the C3, the RK RFS club, based in Riga, held Galatasaray in check (2-2). Tottenham, for their part, did the job against the Hungarians of Ferencvaros (2-1) thanks to goals from Pape Matar Sarr and Brennan Johnson. Hoffenheim dominated Dynamo kyiv thanks to a double from Hlozek, when Anderlecht created a little surprise by winning at Anoeta against Real Sociedad (1-2). Farioli’s Ajax, after a crushing victory against Besiktas (4-0), was hooked by Slavia Prague, eliminated by Lille in the preliminary round of C1 in August.

The results of the first part of the evening:

• Ferencvaros (Hungary) 1-2 Tottenham (Angleterre) : Varga (90+1st) for Ferencvaros ; Sarr (23rd) and Johnson (86th) for Tottenham

• Hoffenheim (Allemagne) 2-0 Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) : Hlozek (22e, 60e) pour Hoffenheim

• Lazio Rome (Italy) 4-1 Nice (France): Pedro (20th), Castellanos (35th, 53rd), Zaccagni (65th) for Lazio; Boga (41st) for Nice

• Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) 0-2 Central Jutland (Denmark) : Franculino (39th) and Chilufya (89th) for Midtjylland

• Olympiakos (Greece) 3-0 Braga (Portugal): El Kaabi (45th, 59th) and Hezze (53rd) for Olympiakos

• Qarabag (Azerbaïdjan) 1-2 Malmö (Sweden) : Juninho (15e) pour Qarabag ; Botheim (19e, 47e) pour Malmö

• Real Sociedad (Spain) 1-2 Anderlecht (Belgium) : Marin (5th) for Real; Vazquez (28th) and Leoni (40th) for Anderlecht

• RFS (Latvia) 2-2 Galatasaray (Türkiye): Ikaunieks (40th) and Odisharia (55th) for the RFS; Mertens (12th) and Akgun (38th) for Galatasaray

• Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) 1-1 Ajax (Netherlands): Chory (67th) for Slavia van den Boomen (18th) for Ajax