Mangala fires resurgent Lyon to narrow win over high-flying Nice in Ligue 1
The hosts’ impressive recent form looked to be counting for nothing early on, as Nice applied plenty of pressure. Mohamed-Ali Cho came closest as he spectacularly chipped Anthony Lopes from a seemingly impossible angle, only for the ball to clip the post and bounce back into play.
Les Gones appeared to have weathered the storm, only for the clouds to regather on 20 minutes in the form of a fizzing Morgan Sanson effort which Lopes had to turn around the post before Evann Guessand saw his goal-bound header blocked from the resulting corner.
But it was Lyon who were right as rain two minutes later as they took a surprise lead. The ball was threaded down the right to Ernest Nuamah, who got to the byline and provided a neat cutback to the penalty spot where Orel Mangala was waiting to slot the ball into the roof of the net - his first goal since arriving on loan from Nottingham Forest.
Pierre Sage’s men were growing in confidence, with Maxence Caqueret’s long-range effort going a whisker wide and only a crucial tackle from Melvin Bard preventing Nuamah from taking the ball around Marcin Bulka. At the other end, Lopes got down well to save a powerful Khephren Thuram strike, preserving the lead at the break.
Nuamah from the right wing and Said Benrahma from the left continually caused Nice problems early in the second half, but Bulka was untested.
The introduction of top scorer Terem Moffi gave Francesco Farioli’s men a new sharpness in attack, and they thought they had levelled as the match entered the final quarter, but Pablo Rosario’s free header from a corner went inches wide.
Lopes and his defence had to be alert to the danger of Jeremie Boga on multiple occasions in the final minutes, but they did enough to secure a fourth-straight victory in all competitions.
Meanwhile, a fifth league defeat in their last nine leaves Nice at risk of dropping to fourth come the end of the weekend, as they remain pointless when conceding first this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ernest Nuamah (Olympique Lyonnais)