Under pressure, the Nice Aiglons delivered a pitiful performance, punished by a heavy defeat (1-4) at the Allianz Riviera.
A shipwreck in a deserted stadium. Obliged to win after four failed first matches in the Europa League (two draws, two defeats), OGC Nice sank on its Allianz Riviera pitch against Glasgow Rangers (1-4), this Thursday during the 5th day. Weighed down by incredible defensive errors at this level of the competition, the Aiglons sank from the first act, punished by goals in quick succession from Cerny (35th), Diomande (38th) and Igamane (45+3rd). This same Igamane, in the general torpor in Nice, folded the matter upon returning from the locker room (54th).
Without a response until the sublime free kick scored by Bouanani (83rd), the only clearing of the evening, Franck Haise’s team finds itself relegated to 35th place in the C3 ranking (out of 36 teams) with two points and one catastrophic goal difference (-7). The 24th in the competition (last play-off place), Union Saint-Gilloise, has five points with three matches remaining in the regular phase. Nice will therefore have to win against this team, in Brussels during their next trip to still believe in qualification.
The Nice defense multiplies the gifts
Before the reception of Rangers, now 8th in the standings (10 points), the Niçois had never opened the score in the Europa League this season. Once again, they did not deviate through them. But, for their third home meeting of the season, they made the task insurmountable. After being down 1-0 against Real Sociedad and coming back (1-1), after being down 2-0 against Twente and coming back (2-2), this time they returned to the locker room at the break after having conceded 3 goals in less than a quarter of an hour.
The Czech Vaclav Cerny first scored after an easy recovery from Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane in front of a far too passive Mohamed Abdelmonem (35th). Instead of holding the team together, the evening’s executives then collapsed. Three minutes later, in fact, an improbable misunderstanding between Pablo Rosario and Marcin Bulka allowed the Ivorian international, Mohamed Diomande, to sneak in and double the lead in front of the Nice team, incredulous in the face of so much naivety (38th).
Before the break, Abdelmonem was going to be missed once again. This time, the Egyptian missed his back pass to Bulka. Igamane took the opportunity to score his team’s third goal (45th + 3). It must be said that Nice, in a training already very reduced due to eight injured (Moffi, Boga, Sanson, Mendy, Dante, Clauss, Abdi and Orakpo) and two suspended (Diop and Bombito) but also very reworked (Ndombélé, Cho , Guessand on the bench), had then, for a long time already, lost its captain Youssouf Ndayishimiye.
Stations of the Cross in the second half
Returning from injury after an injury to the hamstring muscles of the left thigh contracted with the Burundian selection, the Nice colossus played a quarter of an hour. Then he had to give up his place to the young Yaël Nandjou who was making his professional debut (18th). Before conceding the first goal, Nice had even created the best opportunities with Badredine Bouanani (shot wide, 5th), Tom Louchet (shot deflected by the goalkeeper, 6th) and Youssoupha Moukoko (blocked rebound, 6th).
On the other hand, once behind, the Rouge et Noir no longer existed. They even conceded a fourth goal through, once again, Igamane, author of his third goal in three matches in the competition (54th). Only Bouanani offered a smile to the public. His beautiful free kick from the left reduced the gap (83rd).
