Dismayed, the Aiglons, in the midst of a nightmare, held out their sticks to be beaten on their lawn against Glasgow Rangers (1-4).
TOPS
Sharp and decisive Igamane
If anyone had fun this evening, it was him. Glasgow Rangers home scorer Hamza Igamane scored two goals and delivered an assist against Nice (1-4). Although he was not a starter at the start of the season, the young Moroccan (22 years old) won his place with the Scottish team. If he took advantage of a big mistake on his first goal (45+3), he remained impressive in his mastery in his dribbling to eliminate Bulka and in his serenity in adjusting the young Nandjou who was facing him in front of the empty goal. In the second half, he scored a superb double by getting rid of Rosario with a small bridge and adjusting Bulka with a perfect flat foot (54th). Undeniably the man of the match.
Bouanani for the honor and the gesture
It’s difficult to pull off a top on the Nice side. If Louchet was opportunistic in the first period with several good attempts (4th and 9th), the eleven Aiglons quickly faded away. At the start of the second half, Ndombélé and Laborde tried in vain to sound a revolt before conceding another devastating goal. Finally, it was Badredine Bouanani who with a magnificent direct free kick scored an anecdotal goal, which will surely do good for the morale of Franck Haise’s men.
FLOPS
It’s Christmas before time at the Allianz Riviera
Who says we open gifts on December 25? In Nice, we obviously wish a Merry Christmas on November 28. The locals literally offered the match to the Scots on a platter. If Cerny’s first goal (35th) was a stroke of bad luck with an illegible shot triple-blocked to beat Bulka, the other three were offerings. A bad reading which benefits Diomande (38th), and two missed restarts transforming into assists for Igamane who just has to finish (45+3 and 54th).
Rosario zero points
If there is one sentence that is the antithesis of Rosario’s match, it is this one: “The armband fits him like a glove”. Everything was going well for the Nice midfielder until Ndayishimiye (18th) left due to injury. Captain in the absence of Dante, the Senegalese injured in the calf gave up his place and then his armband to the Dutchman. And it was from that moment that the nightmare began. Beyond a cruel lack of aggressiveness and a great difficulty in restarting cleanly, Rosario is guilty of two goals. The first in the 38th minute, on a harmless through ball, the former PSV player is ahead but lets the ball pass without warning his goalkeeper, crucified in the process by Diomandé. The second of a completely failed restart at the feet of the Rangers striker who erases it with an insolent little bridge before scoring a new goal.
Nice at the foot of the wall
Only Dynamo kyiv is doing worse. With two points taken in five days for 5 goals scored and 12 conceded, Nice is 35th out of 36 in this Europa League, just behind the modest Latvian club RFS. The Rouge et Noir have not won a single match in this competition and are in a very delicate situation. If they are not yet mathematically eliminated, they will have to win their last three matches: at Union Saint Gilloise, at Elfsborg and on their home pitch against Bodo Glimt. A mission which seems impossible if the people of Nice show the same face as they have since the start of this campaign.
The Aiglons even more decimated
The infirmary is still filling up for Nice. Dante, Clauss, Mendy, Sanson, Moffi Orakpo and now Ndayishimiye. The interim captain of OGC Nice had just returned from injury and his body did not last long against the Rangers. Alerted in the 13th minute, he had to give up his place in the 18th. The young Nandjou (19 years old) played his first professional match to remedy this new injury. A headache ahead for Franck Haise against Lyon this Sunday (5 p.m.) in Ligue 1. The former RC Lens coach already deplored at a press conference a match sheet with fewer than 15 professional players.
