Nice showered on the gong and almost eliminated, Man United does the job, Galatasaray hanging on

We were wondering when Nice’s European campaign would start, but obviously, it’s still not for today. 35th out of 36 before this evening, Franck Haise’s men did not help their case by losing to Union Saint-Gilloise (2-1), and they could even put on the dunce’s outfit in the event of Dynamo kyiv’s victory against Real Sociedad just now. With a workforce still in tatters and an infirmary that is always full, Franck Haise had chosen to renew his confidence in the young Issiaga Camara (19 years old), at the bottom of his midfield, while Nandjou, another member of this 2005 generation from Nice, was established as left back. If this offensive 4-3-3 was intended to allow Diop and Bouanani to showcase their inventiveness, we waited a long time before seeing the first results.

The rest after this ad

With the exception of this gag sequence from the first seconds (2nd), when we believed that the Luxembourg goalkeeper Anthony Morris had decided to bring forward Christmas time for Nice with a failed check, the biggest situations were at put to the credit of the Belgians, who are also victims of their clumsiness. It must be said, the 22 actors were not helped by the quality of the lawn, which was in poor condition. This is what perhaps explained this off-target shot from Fuseini, after having nevertheless caught a cold from a completely passive Nice defense in its management of depth (4th). But this match at least allowed us to find a former face of Ligue 1, Sofiane Boufal, who saw his attempt repelled by Bulka from a tight angle (10th). It also reminded us that Youssoufa Moukoko was on the field, with a first situation after thirty minutes of play. But Nice, too clumsy, too imprecise, and too lax, was punished a few seconds later by Ivanovic (1-0, 33rd). The Croatian took advantage of Nice’s absence after a feat by Bulka in front of Fuseini to push the ball into the back of the net.

It would take a miracle for Nice to reach the dams

On the verge of collapse, the Aiglons defense could thank Boufal, or Bulka, it depends. All alone against the Pole, the Moroccan tried to destabilize him with feints, but fell on a wall (39th). And his lack of realism was punished before the break. Sofiane Diop recovered a ball at the opponent’s feet, and crossed for Guessand, clinically cutting the ball at the near post (1-1, 45th). Revitalized, the Niçois were even close to taking the advantage after returning from the locker room with Camara’s bag crashing against the bar, then the post (53rd). A short highlight, which gave rise to several hot sequences for the locals. Bulka disgusted Machida when Louchet saved a ball on his line (69th). After a serious loss of the ball by Rosario, Ivanovic in turn had the opportunity to score, but did not get his face-to-face on target (72nd). In a disjointed end to the match, which looked more like a game of billiards on a potato field than a European Cup match, the Aiglons still had one last opportunity to score, but at the end of a nice movement, Laborde was blocked (81st). At the same time, Bulka kept his team alive with three decisive saves at the very end of the match, but what was hanging over his team’s nose happened.

The rest after this ad

At the entrance to the area, Aït El Hadj shifted Ivanovic, whose left-footed shot landed in Bulka’s top corner (2-1, 90+1′). With only 2 points taken in 6 days, Nice is stuck in penultimate place in this League phase. The Aiglons will have no other choice than to win their last two matches to hope to be a play-off, which would not even guarantee them a place since according to certain statistical analyses, a total of nine points might not be enough to finish among the 24 qualified. In the other matches of the evening, Manchester United beat Viktoria Plzen (2-1). Rasmus Hojlund responded to Matej Vydra in the second half, and scored again late in the match. AS Roma enforced the hierarchy by beating Braga 3-0 thanks to Pellegrini (11th), Abdulhamid (47th) and Hermoso (90+1). Galatasaray (4th) for its part was held by Malmö (2-2) but remains undefeated.

The complete Europa League standings.

The rest after this ad

All results from 6:45 p.m.:

• Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 Nice: Ivanovic (33rd, 90+2) / Guessand (45+1e)

• AS Rome 3-0 Braga: Pellegrini (45e), Abdulhamid (47e), Hermoso (90+1e)

• Pilsen 1-2 Manchester United : Otter (48e) / Hojlund (62e, 88e)

• Hoffenheim 0-0 FCSB

• Ludogorets 2-2 Alkmaar : Chochev (61st), Duah (63rd) / van Bommel (14th), Maikuma (19th)

• Malmö 2-2 Galatasaray : Botheim (24e), Pena (90+2e) / Jelert (43e), Akgun (56e)

• Olympiakos 0-0 Twente

• PAOK 5-0 Ferencvaros : Taison (10e), Thomas (29e), Chalov (76e), Zivkovic (80e), Despodov (89e)