Axel Allag, Media365, published on Thursday December 12, 2024 at 8:44 p.m.
OGC Nice, beaten on the Union Saint-Gilloise pitch in the last seconds of the match (2-1), was not there. This Europa League, two days before the end of the league phase, should not allow them to join the top 24.
OGC Nice's European adventure is almost over even before the last two days. Franck Haise, forced to cope without 13 players – 11 injured and 2 unqualified – had warned of the crucial stakes of this meeting in Brussels. “What is certain is that if we do not achieve a positive result tomorrow (Thursday) evening – and when I say positive, it is better to win – it will be the end of our hopes in the European Cup , that's for sure I don't need to repeat it to the players, they are very well aware.” This Thursday evening, therefore, Nice was once again able to measure its limits on the European level, quickly overtaken by. a lively opponent who was able to score after the half hour of game. If Mohammed Fuseini found a level Marcin Bułka on his way, the Aiglons goalkeeper was unable to do anything against the second blade, namely the victorious shot from Franjo Ivanovic (1-0, 33rd). The first half, one-sided, still ended on a good note, with Evann Guessand's equalizer on the visitors' only on-target shot in the first period (1-1, 45th+1). Returning from the locker room, the amorphous Aiglons of the first act gave way, for a short moment, to players who were much more alert but not necessarily lucky, like Issiaga Camara's powerful shot deflected by Anthony Moris on his crossbar and bouncing in front of the line (58th). The second goal for the locals did not arrive subsequently, the fault in particular of the interventions of Marcin Bułka and Tom Louchet who, with his knee, prevented the ball from crossing the line (68th). On a thread, the Nice tried as best they could to score the winning goal, which therefore did not arrive, as since the start of this European campaign. At the end of the match, Franjo Ivanovic scored his double which signaled the near end of the Aiglons' adventure (2-1, 90th + 2).
The last two meetings, against IF Elfsborg (January 23 in Sweden) and Bodø/Glimt (January 30 at the Allianz Riviera) will be there to at least allow us to win a match in the Europa League. But a European future in the play-offs is almost no longer relevant for a team penultimate in the standings with 2 points and which played “like children” in the words of Sofiane Diop.
