Ligue 1: Nice overcomes Lorient thanks to Andy Delort

While waiting for the Classic between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille (a meeting to follow live with commentary on our FM site from 8:45 p.m.), the 32nd day of Ligue 1 continued this Sunday at 1 p.m. At the Allianz Riviera, OGC Nice (6th, 51 pts) hosted FC Lorient (16th, 31pts) in a meeting with different challenges for the two teams. Orphan of the slightest victory since their victory against the club of the capital on March 5 (1-0), the Gym, dryly beaten by RC Lens last weekend (0-3), could nevertheless return to the foot of the podium in case of victory. Winners in the largesse of ASSE (6-2) during the previous day, the Hakes had, for their part, the opportunity to take a big step towards maintenance. The rest after this advertisement For this meeting, Christophe Galtier, deprived of Dante, Lemina, Schneiderlin, Claude-Maurice or even Atal, kept his traditional 4-4-2 flat where Kluivert, Stengs, Gouiri and Delort formed the Nice attacking quartet . For his part, Christophe Pélissier opted for a 3-4-3. In the absence of Le Fée, Innocent and Abergel constituted the double pivot. Present on the front of the Lorient attack, Soumano was accompanied by Moffi and Laurienté, established on the wings. Under the Riviera sun, however, this duel was slow to settle. Master of possession but amorphous offensively, the Gym absolutely failed to destabilize the block of visitors during the first half hour. Sharper over the minutes, the Niçois were more dangerous just before the break but neither Kluivert (35th, 43rd), nor Delort, with a shot flirting with the left post of Les Merlus (45 + 1st), did not deceive vigilance by Dreyer. Andy Delort is wearing OGC Nice in the race for Europe! Held in check at the break, the Riviera club returned with the same offensive intentions as those seen at the end of the first act. Shifted to the left side, Kluivert returned on his right foot but finally saw his shot go well above the Lorient goals (48th). Much more present around the opponent’s area, the Aiglons pushed the Merlus to their limits and were logically going to be rewarded. At fault in his own area after a duel with Thuram, Jenz offered a penalty to the Nice that Delort transformed with composure (1-0, 54th). Thanks to his 11th goal in Ligue 1, the former MHSC striker freed his team. A short-lived joy however for the Aiglons, very quickly caught up in the score. Author of a superb solitary rush after a stint with Le Goff on the left side, Laurienté eliminated Stengs with a hook and deceived Benitez with a low right shot (1-1, 61st). Carried by this equalizer, the Lorient people even thought of taking the lead in stride. Served in depth by Abergel, Moffi eliminated the Riviera captain and concluded with a hard shot in the empty goal but the referee finally returned to an offside position at the start of the action (64th). Back to back as the last quarter of an hour approached, the two technicians made some changes with the entries of Monconduit and Koné for FCL and the appearances of Bard, Boudaoui and Dolberg on the Nice side. Despite pressure from Nice in the last minutes, like this dangerous recovery from Dolberg (87th), Nice could not make the difference. But in the dying moments, the inevitable Delort popped up again to offer himself a double header (2-1, 88th) and allow his team to snatch a precious success (2-1) in the race to Europe. A victory that allows the Gym to move up to 4th place. For its part, the FCL remains 16th with three small lengths ahead of the play-off place currently occupied by Clermont. The official line-ups at kick-off The OGC Nice XI Here is the line-up to face @FCLorient! ?⚫️#OGCNFCL #OGCNice pic.twitter.com/RyHSXzFfjl— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) April 17, 2022 FC Lorient XI Here is the composition of @FCLorient to face @ogcnice at 1 p.m. #OGCNFCL pic.twitter.com/C1TWm4GaS1— FC LORIENT ? (@FCLorient) April 17, 2022