Nice battle back against Marseille to keep up Champions League push
An early effort from Marseille’s Jordan Veretout sailed over the bar, as Marseille's slow start saw them fall behind monents after. Mohamed-Ali Cho split the home defence with a beautiful pass that his teammates Jeremie Boga and Terem Moffi were almost falling over each other to get on the end of. In the end, it was Moffi who rolled into the unguarded net after a favourable bounce off Pau Lopez.
After Veretout was denied a penalty, the hosts levelled proceedings just after the half hour thanks to the returning Jonathan Clauss. Having missed the last five games due to an injury picked up on international duty, he marked his comeback with a stunning strike from the edge of the box after taking the ball down on his chest.
Any positivity among the Vélodrome faithful was drained somewhat on the stroke of half-time when Faris Moumbagna picked up a second yellow for a seemingly-innocuous coming-together with Antoine Mendy.
Les Aiglons thought they had taken advantage of their man advantage less than five minutes into the second period when Boga linked up well with Khephren Thuram who finished neatly. However, the offside flag was correctly raised against the latter of the two.
Referee Jeremie Pignard was in the spotlight again when he pointed to the spot on 53 minutes for what looked like a clean clearance from Cho as Leonardo Balerdi miscontrolled in the box. Incredibly, VAR confirmed his decision and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang asked no further questions, dispatching the penalty high into the top corner to give his side the lead.
Francesco Farioli’s men could have been forgiven for wilting after this grievance but they didn’t and silenced the Velodrome on 72 minutes when Melvin Bard struck a low, hard shot from the edge of the box after latching onto a clearing header. It was the full back’s first goal of the season as it evaded the outstretched glove of Lopez by millimetres.
The home fans were on their feet with ten to go as sub Iliman Ndiaye was sent racing clear by Aubameyang but he was denied by Marcin Bułka as Nice’s Polish stopper made himself big.
Both teams hunted for a winner and the hosts came inches from one in stoppage time after Aubamyenag’s dancing run but his deft finish came off the bar after leaving Bułka flat-footed. In the end, the two had to settle for an entertaining draw that sees Marseille up to 8th while Nice stay 5th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jeremie Boga (Nice)
