After Le Gym’s 3-0 win over Brest on Sunday, both the coach and the captain emphasised the twists and turns of a match that saw Les Aiglons have to fight with ten men from the 20th minute onwards following Morgan Schneiderlin’s sending-off. “There was a second match that began,” explained Christophe Galtier in his post-match press conference. This was because, even though Les Aiglons had the lead thanks to Kasper Dolberg’s strike in the 13th minute, few teams have won in Ligue 1 after playing for so long with a numerical disadvantage.

OGC Nice are therefore the first team to win in the league after seeing one of their own players sent off so early in a game since Lille’s trip to Nîmes on 16th December 2018, when José Fonte was shown a red card in the 16th minute. In that match, LOSC, who were also led by Christophe Galtier at the time, were also 1-0 in front when the sending-off occurred, eventually running out 3-2 winners after leading 3-0.

Away to Brest, Nice were able to rely on an impeccable Walter Benítez and the efficiency of their strikers to pick up a 3-0 win. “The team managed to adapt,” as Dante put it, to hold onto the three points that put them back up to second place in Ligue 1 at the end of Matchday 20 despite the setbacks.