This third match of the week was salivating, especially since the transfer window was closed and Lucien Favre could count on his recruits. And icing on the cake, a last player was even presented to the public before the meeting. Ross Barckley, the surprise out of the hat, free of any commitment after his non-extension with Chelsea! But the Nice spirit only lasted half time..
Commitment then disintegration
After a start to the match which saw the Monegasques pressing quite high, it was indeed the Gym who granted themselves the first big chance of the game through Youcef Atal, well served by Gaëtan Laborde (13 ‘). A quarter of an hour later, it was another rookie, Pepe, who concretized a fine movement by the Laborde-Delort duettists with a strike without impact (30 ‘). But it is in this promising period that the first tile of the evening intervened with the exit on injury of Atal, touched in the thigh.
From then on, the machine jammed on the side of Nice and the entries into play by Rosario and Beka Beka could not prevent what had been hanging in the nose of the Aiglons since the return from the locker room. Namely Embolo’s opener for ASM (69′). A real blow for the band to Lulu who could not recover, amorphous, without ideas and without juice.