After a tight, evenly contested game, Les Aiglons won the Mediterranean derby against OM (1-0) thanks to Evann Guessand. Le Gym remain unbeaten this season.

After Strasbourg, Paris, Monaco and Metz, Marseille! Le Gym, still driven by a fighting spirit and big passion, took the scalp of OM by the slimmest of margins at the Allianz Riviera on Saturday evening. Evann Guessand, who had already scored against Lorient (M2, 1-1), gave the 32,000 Nice fans something to shout about at the end of a match that had been tightly contested for a long time. In the first meeting between two Italian coaches in the history of Ligue 1, Francesco Farioli and Gennaro Gattuso tactically cancelled each other out for much of the match.

On one side, a Nice side trying to play out from the back, held back by pressing and a very compact Marseille block. On the other, Marseille struggled to trouble the red-and-black defence, which held its own as the best in the league and extended its clean-sheet streak to four in a row and six since the start of the season.

Les Phocéens thought they had opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Ismaïla Sarr, found in behind by Chancel Mbemba, beat Marcin Bułka from close range before being flagged offside. Le Gym, struggling to create chances due to the intensity of their opponents, had their first good chance through Terem Moffi, whose powerful long-range effort was blocked (40').

BUŁKA DECISIVE

The second half was a much livelier affair, with the two sides showing themselves to be more dangerous whilst remaining very close in terms of statistics (10 shots to 9 and 2 shots on target to 1 for Les Aiglons; 51% versus 49% of possession for OM). While Jérémie Boga was lively on the left and causing problems for the Olympique defence, Gennaro Gattuso's men came up against a Bułka who was once again decisive. Tested by Amine Harit's well-struck header, the Polish keeper stretched to his full length to turn away the dangerous effort (63').

The breakthrough came for Le Gym ten minutes from time. Moments after Aubameyang hit the post after a one-on-one with Bułka, Les Aiglons found the net from a set-piece. Pablo Rosario, who came on at the end of the first half in place of Jordan Lotomba, who suffered a hamstring injury, was influential in an unfamiliar right-back role and hooked the ball past Balerdi on the left-hand side of the area. The Argentinian defender, who had already been booked moments earlier, was guilty of a foul that earned him a red card (78').

GUESSAND POPS UP

It was then that Evann Guessand entered the scene. From the free-kick, Jérémie Boga delivered a superb ball onto the head of the Nice-trained striker, who had just come on for Moffi. The No29's powerful header gave Ruben Blanco, who had come on for the injured Pau Lopez, no chance and the Allianz crowd went wild.

After being realistic, the Rouge et Noir were heroic. Unstoppable defensively, Dante and his men held out for eight long minutes of added time, scrapping, tackling and pushing back, as shown at the end by Melvin Bard, who was winning every ball.

For the fifth time this season, OGC Nice won the game, extending their unbeaten run to nine matches and moving provisionally to the top of the league.

They travel to Clermont next Friday (M10, kick-off 9pm).

Hugo Rondet