The Aiglons thought they had overthrown the Swiss club but were overtaken at the end of the match (2-2) on Thursday. They will have to make the difference in a week, at home, to qualify for the semi-finals.
The Terem Moffi show will not have been enough. Author of a double, Thursday, April 13, during the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League conference against FC Basel, the Nigerian striker did not however manage to offer OGC Nice an option before the return match in one week. The two teams separated on a parity score (2-2). On the lawn of the Parc Saint-Jacques in Basel, the Riviera club led until the 70th minute but Zeki Amdouni imitated Moffi by also going there with his double.
In difficulty in Ligue 1 for several weeks, Nice has now not won a single match for a month and its round of 16 second leg of the Europa League conference against Sheriff Tiraspol (3-1). The disappointment is all the greater as Didier Digard’s team did not go far from finding the path to success thanks to a Moffi of the big nights. Before the Nice striker stood out, it was above all his team-mate Jean-Clair Todibo who was in sight… for the wrong reasons.
Moffi plays the acrobats
While the Aiglons mastered the meeting without being dangerous, the defender called up for the first time in the France team in March, caused a penalty for a shoulder blow too much on the ex-Niçois Dan Ndoye. The latter, very prominent, left Zeki Amdouni, the home scorer, to transform the sentence (26th). This opener had the merit of waking up the Aiglons, not far from equalizing on a strike from Khephren Thuram passed just wide of the goals (29th).
At 0-1, this is the moment Moffi chose to emerge. First by taking advantage of a mess in the Swiss area to put Nice back up (38th). Then, dazzling the Parc Saint-Jacques, even impressing the Basel coach, on a splendid acrobatic return at the end of a cross from Gaëtan Laborde (45th + 1).
The two decisive goalkeepers
Slightly jostled in the second period, the Digard team cracked on a poor marking by Pablo Rosario, who let Amdouni equalize in turn, with a header (71st). And if Laborde did not go far from giving a definitive advantage to the Aiglons, but came up against Marvin Hitz twice (75th, 77th), Nice can also thank Kasper Schmeichel, author of two saves in front of Michael Lang (66th) and Ndoye (90th + 1).
Nice and Basel therefore leave on this draw and the players of Digard will have to win at the Allianz Riviera next Thursday, in the return match, to pursue their European dream. Last French representative in the European Cup this season, Nice can join the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time in its history in the event of qualification. The French UEFA coefficient, threatened by the Dutch clubs, asks only that.