Whether it was through his ability to continually put a shift in or his skill at winning the ball in good positions and playing even better passes, Hicham Boudaoui did very well in his side’s return to Ligue 1 action on Thursday night. With 41% of the votes, the Algerian midfielder is your Aiglon of the Match from the 0-0 draw with Lens.

AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE

Having been named as the player with the most endurance in the dressing room during the OGC Nice Awards, Boudaoui once again proved this to be true against Lens on Thursday. Le Gym’s no. 28, who was placed next to Khephren Thuram in the middle of Lucien Favre’s 3-4-3, ran all across the pitch, covering a total of 12.8 km – 800 metres more than any other player.

With 81 high-intensity runs and an average speed of 8.06 km/h (respectively the highest and second-highest totals of the game), the Nice midfielder put in a top-drawer performance through his on-pitch presence, as his heat map shows:

THE MAN WHO CAN DO IT ALL

Against Les Sang et Or, Boudaoui used his endurance to perform at his best in several aspects of the play. Whilst he failed to find the net – “he lacks one thing: finishing, the shot, the last dribble,” remarked Lucien Favre in his post-match press conference – the man who has scored eight goals and provided nine assists in his 87 appearances for Les Rouge et Noir managed to dribble his way into the final third on five occasions.

A vital component when it comes to keeping the ball, Boudaoui also showed how good he is at winning the ball back. On top of his two interceptions, he brought the fans to their feet when he ran nearly 40 metres to put a stop to a Lens counter-attack with a crunching tackle in the 55th minute.