On Sunday, Les Aiglons fell to defeat against Metz on Matchday 26 of L1 (1-2).

A bad day for Le Gym. After Paris and Marseille, they suffered a third consecutive defeat against a Metz side that was full of confidence and arriving on the Côte d'Azur to try their hand. Just as in Marseille, the men from the Côte let the first half pass them by, were punished, then came back with fresh ideas in the second. This allowed them the chance to reduce the visitors' lead, but they couldn't find an equaliser, due to a solid performance from the Metz block.

Against a Metz 3-5-2, Adrian Ursea opted for a 4-3-3, with the return of the central defensive due of Todibo and Saliba. There were no changes on the wings or in midfield, and Ndoye, Myziane and Gouiri made up the front three. From the get go, Les Grenats caused the home side problems and Les Aiglons dropped deep.

In attack, Les Aiglons failed to create any chances of note in the first half. Lees-Melou tried his luck from distance, Claude-Maurice and Boudaoui were muscled off the ball in the box after individual runs. But nothing would bother Oukidja between the sticks.

Defensively, they were troubled and were beaten on two occasions. The first came after fifteen minutes and the second just before the break. For the first, Boulaya picked up the ball in the box after a goalmouth scramble, crossed firmly and saw his excellent ball turned home by Kouyaté (0-1, 15’). The second goal came when Gueye perfectly headed home a corner from Udol (0-2, 38’).

In the same way as at the Vélodrome just a few days earlier, Les Aiglons came out after the break looking like a changed side. More incisive and more agressive, they kept possession of the ball and pushed forward. These good intentions paid off after 60 minutes of play. Claude-Maurice, played a beautiful ball for Gouiri who was knocked off balance in the box and the forward made no mistake as he converted with a Panenka from the spot (1-2, 60’).

After this, Les Niçois pushed and pushed, forcing their opponents to drop deeper. Coach Ursea sent on Schneiderlin and Sellouki. Gouiri and Claude-Maurice raised the temperature of the match, but despite this, Les Azuréens struggled to create real chances.

Saliba ensured a suspenseful finish to the game, when he snuffed out a counter from Leya-Iseka. Nice stepped up the pressure in the closing stages, but Metz protected their victory with a compact defensive performance.

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