Nice 2 Lyon 0
Michel de Vacri
Lat night Nice beat Olympique Lyon 2-0 to increase our lead at the head of Ligue Une by 4 points and our best ever start with 7 wins and 2 draws out of 9 games. Lyon were once one of the powerhouses of French football, winning the championship seven years running, and are still a force. So it was an important test for us. We were helped by the hothead forward of Lyon Fekir first raking the leg and then stamping on the arm of Nice captain Baysse. It was a case of Fakir off as he was red carded. Baysse had already scored and – reduced to 10 men and a goal down – the victory was inevitable.
People ask me why des Aigles (the Eagles) are doing so well, especially as we lost our best player Ben Arta to Paris SG. Although Rivere is still the President new money has come in from a Chinsese/American consortium. We therefore were able to make two important acquisitions Dante from Bayern and the mercurial Mario Balotelli. We have some fine youngsters particularly in midfield like Siri, and Dalbert and the mix of the team is potent. The only problem is depth. We must also praise new manager Lucien Favre who came in from Borusia Munchengladbach when we were so worried over the loss of Claude Puel who went to Southampton and done such a good job.
Nice has a reputation for rehabilitating careers. Perhaps it’s the relaxed ambience of the Riviera with the swaying palm trees, beaches and blue skies. Maybe there is less expectation and intensity of attention from the media as in the Premiership. Gerald Houllier who had 2 successful years at Lyon is now back “advising ‘ the President Aulas. It was apparently him, much to the annoyance of sporting director Bernard Lacombe, who tried to bring another maverick Adebayor. This led to a hilarious press spoof of his demands: a helicopter to the training ground, a villa with a view of Corsica (we are talking Lyon in East France ) and as personal chef Robuchon. Spanish writers apparently though these were true and duly reported this as fact!
I appreciate that ligue une does not have the global exposure nor wealth of the Premier but it does have one attribute over that league namely young French players are far more likely to get a first team opportunity than in England. Toulouse for example who are in the top 4 after beating Monaco last night have a 17 year old goalkeeper Lafont. Just as happened last season with Leicester, Nice has every chance of winning the Championship and breaking the old order of PSG, Monaco and Lyon. Allez des Aigues!