Francesco Farioli spoke at the post-match press conference following Nice's 2-3 defeat to AS Monaco at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday.

Coach, how do you feel after the defeat to Monaco?

First of all, I'd like to congratulate the boys. They were spectacular tonight and played at a very, very high level. The best example of this was the attitude of the Monaco goalkeeper, who was already running down the clock in the 10th minute. Even after we'd equalised and found ourselves down to 10 men, they were playing for time. If we can create that kind of fear in an opponent of this quality and value, it says a lot about the boys' performance tonight. They showed great spirit and desire. To finish with 10 against 11 and five or six chances in the opposition box speaks volumes once again. Congratulations to the boys.

Have you seen Dante's foul again? What do you think of this decision, which had a huge influence on the match?

I've seen the video. I think everyone has the eyes to make their own judgement about Dante's foul, but not just about that incident. I don't want to talk about the refereeing, I've got a lot of other things to do. It's neither my role nor my responsibility. Everyone has eyes to judge the many errors made by the referees this evening.

When the team equalised at 2-2, do you regret not calming things down and holding on for a draw?

We had problems reading certain situations. On the second goal, we didn't get in front of the ball when the referee blew his whistle and Monaco played it quickly. On the third goal too, the move started with a touch on one side that was given away on the other. Today, we lacked the ability to deal with this kind of situation in our box. The rest of the match was of a very high standard. I think we were right to encourage the players' desire to win this match. The crowd were pushing us, we had the physical capacity. With 'ifs', it's always difficult to analyse. Apart from the result, there are no regrets.

It's a first defeat at home this season. How does that make you feel? Does it hurt a bit more because it's against a rival like Monaco?

Losing is never nice, whether it's at home or away, against Monaco or any other team. Tonight we played a match that we can take a lot of things from: the energy, the values, the attitude. That's the most important thing. The only thing to forget is the result, there were a lot of good things that will help us prepare for the next games and the rest of the season.

Evann Guessand had a very good game tonight. Can you speak to us about his game and how you saw it?

It's another match in Evann's series of great performances since the start of the season. So far, he hasn't had a bad game, he's brought quality and physicality... There are things he can and must improve on, he knows it and he wants to. Tonight he put in a performance of great value, so well done to him and to the rest of the team.

The race for Europe has tightened. Does the match in Lyon next week become a little more important?

Between now and the end of the season, every game will be important. In all the press conferences I've always stressed that our objective is to collect as many points as possible. In a league, there are good times and bad times. The Lyon game is very important, as was tonight's game and as will be the next. There's still a long way to go in the race for Europe until the end of the season. There will still be a lot of twists and turns and a lot of difficulties to overcome. Tonight, we have to take away that strength and desire.