This Saturday, April 30, on behalf of the 36th day of Ligue 2, Nîmes Olympique won at the red lantern Nancy (3-1). Thanks to his goalkeeper, Lucas Dias, surprise holder author of 8 saves, to the Senegal connection (two goals and an assist for Moussa Koné, a realization of Sidy Sarr) and to the Swedish-Brazilian paw of Eliasson (two offerings) .
Lucas Dias (note: 10/8) : 8/10, like the number of his stops on the lawn of Marcel-Picot. Surprise holder (a sign compared to next season, the tendency being not to exercise the option to buy Pekko Bratveit), he is no longer the black cat: it is his first victory in ten pro tenures with Nîmes Olympique (2 draws and 7 defeats so far, L1 and L2 combined). It took a penalty to deceive his vigilance, after he magnificently repelled, among others, a shot from Biron (48th) that we saw in the back of the net. Goalkeeper n°1 next season? “I am ready and I am a candidate”, he slipped to us. In any case, he was “the man of the match” in Nancy, as Pekko Bratveit told us when he left the stadium!
Patrick Burner (5) : he lets Ciss center (3rd, for the head on the bar of Biron), symbol of his overall lack of defensive aggressiveness. Increasingly serious as the match progressed, he grew bolder offensively, but made no difference. Out for Léon Delpech (79th), who did not show up.
Kelyan Guessoum (5) : less prominent than his partner in the central defensive axis Mbow, but sober and serious, as on this comeback against Biron (57th). Some imperfections all the same in the first period, such as this misdirected defensive header in the first period, or this duel lost in front of El Aynaoui, which cost him 6/10. Replaced by No Ueda (62nd), quiet behind.
Moustapha Mbow (5) : good, when he takes (a lot) of balls with his head and when he cuts many Lorraine pass trajectories. And at least good, when he loses his concentration: he is preceded by Biron, in the air (bar, 3rd) then on the ground (25th). Above all, he caused the ASNL equalizer penalty, at fault on Ngbakoto (61st). Supplied by Anthony Briançon (62nd), warned less than ten minutes later. Then he attacked: he offered himself an offensive incursion (shot blocked, 90th) and almost got ahead of … Koné on the 3rd goal, from a corner!
Gaetan Paquiez (6) : once is not custom left side, captain croco has held his lane well and assumed his status as a manager. He countered several Lorraine attempts. Defensively, he was where he needed to be.
Scotty Sadzoute (5) : as in Quevilly-Rouen (1-0), he started as a (rather attacking) left midfielder, then alternating with Eliasson on the right wing. Little in sight, he distilled a pair of centers and tried a scissor (55th), without success. Pablo Martinez replaced him (62nd), and he is behind the action of the second Gard goal.
Sidy Sarr (6) : Holy Sidy! With a strike from elsewhere, surely from Senegal, the 25-year-old midfielder scored his first goal with Nîmes after 2,628 minutes of play, in all competitions (44th). Before this personal feat, he had often been late, overtaken by the Lorraine rhythm, as on this dangerous tackle on Delos (yellow card, 16th). Relaunched by coach Nicolas Usaï when he arrived in January, he had again disappeared from circulation for a month. “He is a boy with whom I was severe, for normal reasons, his coach slipped us. I spoke and warned the group when reintegrating him”.
Julien Ponceau (5) : it has increased in power over the course of the game. First erased and dominated in the midfield in the first 45 minutes, he was more and more present and dominant after the break.
Niclas Eliasson (7) : two assists, against (64th) then on a corner (90th + 2) for the Swedish-Brazilian, whom Moussa Koné can thank. They thanked each other, in fact: eleven days ago, in Quevilly-Rouen, it was the Senegalese who had served the left-hander. Eliasson made late game differences. He has 7 goals and 5 assists this season in the league. Satisfying.
Moussa Kone (8): two goals and an assist for the centre-forward: what more could you ask for? Defensive efforts: he makes them now. “He’s been playing full matches for a month,” said his coach. If he was not successful in the collective game during the first half hour, he was decisive before half-time, serving his compatriot Sarr for the opener. With 11 goals, he became the top scorer in Nîmes, ahead of Yassine Benrahou (10). And has just signed his second assist in eleven days. He hadn’t done any in two years with NO previously…
Elias Omarsson (6) : the Icelandic finished the season well. He is on his feet, and he is at the origin of the first croco goal, when, in the position of overflow winger, he finds Sarr in the axis. The Icelandic weighed in and held the ball better than usual. A superb half-volley released by the former Nîmes Baptiste Valette (45th). The complementarity with Koné is refined… a little late.
Nicolas Usai (coach, 7) : it becomes a habit, he had still surprised in his team composition, with Dias in the cage, Paquiez left side, Sarr in the middle and the trio of experienced defenders Martinez-Ueda-Briançon on the bench. Dias and Sarr were decisive, and the entry of the trio on the hour mark brought defensive tone and stabilized the team. To his credit, too, “we found the cohesion after which we had been running for a long time”…
The Nîmes collective (7) : with an average age of 24 and no 30s in the starting lineup, he suffered a lot at first, but managed to turn his back and reverse the course of the match. With “cohesion”, therefore.
Bartolomeu Varela (referee, 6) : a half-penalty whistled in favor of Ngbakoto, a half-penalty not whistled in favor of Koné. Two contentious decisions but without manifest error.
The Marcel-Picot stadium (behind closed doors, 6): it will be, without a doubt, the most beautiful stadium of the National. Behind closed doors this Saturday after the incidents that occurred during the reception of Quevilly.
The old Crocos (7) : the Rhone Gardois Antonin Bobichon oriented the game and the Nancy set pieces well. He was the metronome of the Lorraine midfield. Baptiste Valette can’t do much about the three Gard goals. It was a pleasure to see them again.
The ball (6) : a quarter of an hour into the game, it almost landed on the computer of the special correspondent for Midi Libre, who got off with a reflex stop at the Dias! Otherwise, he went three times in the ASNL net, so that’s fine!
The hinge on the bench (7) : Martinez and Briançon never stopped encouraging and motivating. On the hour mark (62nd), their entry, and that of Ueda, made the difference, Nîmes, five behind, being less in danger at the end.
