Lyon ensures its qualification, Nice greatly compromises its own

Olympique Lyonnais (OL) clearly sees a direct qualification for the round of 16 of the Europa League after its victory at home, Thursday December 12 in the evening, at the expense of Eintracht Frankfurt (3-2) which concedes its first defeat in the test, during this 6^e daytime.

L’OL, 4^e in the standings with 13 points – just like their evening opponent – ​​have already secured their place in the play-offs. Several of his players once again displayed a good level of form against Frankfurt, like Corentin Tolisso but also Rayan Cherki, Malick Fofana and Nemanja Matic.

After a first German goal scored by Ansgar Knauff receiving a cross from Hugo Ekitike (1-0, 19^e), Cherki equalized by deflecting a shot from Tolisso (1-1, 27^e). In the second half, after a throw-in in favor of the German team, and a ball recovered by Alexandre Lacazette, Cherki overflowed to ideally serve Fofana who gave Lyon the advantage (2-1, 50^e).

In the process, Ernest Nuamah, catastrophic in the first period, was able to find the opening with a curling shot from the left which lodged in the top corner (3-1, 54^e). The latter had pushed goalkeeper Kevin Trapp to deflect the ball onto the post before half-time (36^e), a post that Tolisso, once again very present, had also touched at the start of the game (7^e).

A tense end to the match

In a tense end to the game with several skirmishes and warnings, Eintracht, who played with five players born in France, reduced the score through Omar Marmoush, who went to the edge of offside after a pass from Can Uzun, to beat Lucas Perri close (3-2, 85^e). But OL knew how to remain solid until the end to validate one of their best performances this season, against the second in the German championship.

“I liked the mentality of the team but beyond the game, it was really the management of certain moments, of certain details which meant that we were able to reverse the trend and produce the game that we produced to win »declared Lyon coach, Pierre Sage.

During its European journey, Lyon beat the two hat 1 teams offered to it: Glasgow Rangers (4-1) and Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Rhone team, which remains on nine matches without defeat (5 wins, 4 draws), successfully completed the first stage of its week which serves as a test. She can approach her trip to the Parc des Princes on Sunday against Paris Saint-Germain in the French championship with good confidence and with arguments to challenge the leader of Ligue 1. On condition of having recovered well against a Parisian opponent who played Tuesday in the Champions League.

Upgraded Nice residents

For the other French club, OGC Nice, the European adventure risks, in all likelihood, stopping at the end of the first phase. Beaten in Brussels by Union St-Gilloise (USG) after added time (2-1), the Azuréens greatly compromised their chances of qualifying for the play-offs for the round of 16. With two points, Franck Haise's men are stagnating in the depths of the ranking, at a dismal 35^e place (out of 36).

Without eight of their starters (Dante, Cho, Bard, Abdi, Abdelmonem, Ndayishimiye, Sanson and Moffi), the Niçois were outclassed throughout the first act, where they almost did not exist. The defensive sector seemed feverish with each rise of the USG, experiencing waves without sinking. Only goalkeeper Marcin Bulka survived.

Cornered, they logically ended up giving in shortly after the half-hour mark. Franjo Ivanovic, on the lookout, took advantage of a ball poorly cleared by the defense to open the scoring at the conclusion of a good collective movement ( 1-0, 33^e).

A cruel double from Ivanovic

Then, the Aiglons shook again five minutes later when Sofiane Boufal appeared alone in front of the Aiglons goal, but came up against Bulka inspired in his exit. As we moved towards the end of the first period, Sofiane Diop inherited the ball and sent an excellent cross to Evann Guessand who equalized on his team's first real opportunity (1-1, 45+ 1).

Much better in the second act, the Niçois had their highlight, without materializing in particular on Camara's shot which hit the crossbar before ricocheting off the post (57^e). But they were also exposed to Belgian counterattacks: on one of them, Bulka saved on the line before being replaced by a defender when the ball had crossed the three-quarter line (67^e).

But he could do nothing about Ivanovic's cruel goal, author of a double a few minutes from the end of the match (2-1, 90 + 2), which sealed the fate of Nice. They will now need a miracle during the last two days, in January 2025, to continue the competition.