At the end of a very even encounter, Les Aiglons won 1-0 against Toulouse thanks to a Terem Moffi strike. Runners-up to PSG, Le Gym remain unbeaten in Ligue 1, with eight wins and five draws since the start of the season!

Heroic, brave, courageous... it's hard to find the right word to describe this match, which was emblematic of Les Aiglons' start to the season. Up against a solid Toulouse side at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday afternoon, Les Rouge et Noir struggled to impose their game for long periods, but after Terem Moffi struck the only goal of the game, they hunkered down and weathered the Toulouse storm towards the end of the match. Thus, in the end, it was Les Rouge et Noir who emerged victorious by the narrowest of margins for the fifth time this season. Nice remain the only unbeaten team in Ligue 1 this season, and are now just a point shy of leaders Paris.

A complicated start

However, nothing was easy for Le Gym on this sunny Sunday. Without Youssouf Ndayishimiye and Hicham Boudaoui (suspended), Francesco Farioli also had to do without Jean-Clair Todibo. After suffering a quadriceps injury with the French national team, the rock of Le Gym's defence was replaced by Pablo Rosario, who joined Dante in the centre of defence.

In this new set-up, with Sofiane Diop dropping back into midfield, Les Aiglons were almost caught out early on when Frank Magri beat Marcin Bułka from close range (2'). Fortunately for the home side, Vincent Sierro had fouled Diop in the heart of the Nice area and the goal was ruled out. On the back foot after this poor start, Les Rouge et Noir were unable to take the game by the scruff of the neck, despite enjoying the majority of possession.

On the half-hour mark, it was Sierro's turn to pose a threat, from a free-kick just outside Nice's penalty area. The TFC captain's powerful shot flirted with Bułka's left-hand post, but for the Côte d'Azur side, there was little to celebrate in the first half apart from Laborde's header (37') and Moffi's heavy shot (41'), both of which went wide.
 

Moffi decisive

Much sharper in the second half, the home side - buoyed by the introduction of Alexis Claude-Maurice in place of the injured Sofiane Diop - soon looked dangerous. In the 50th minute, Terem Moffi was too unselfish, opting to lay the ball off for Jeremie Boga despite being in a good position to shoot. However, the Super Eagle was not to be denied. After being found by Sanson following Melvin Bard's winning possession in the Toulouse half, Le Gym's No.9 broke through the TFC defence, beating Guillaume Restes from close range to score his fourth goal of the season (55'). 

An eventful end to the game ensued, during which Dante and his team-mates could have made the breakthrough, as Lotomba's shot was well saved by the opposing keeper (59'). Nice's talismanic captain then reminded everyone that he is indeed Brazilian, producing a superb mazing run, punctuated by a back-heel to Evann Guessand. The striker, who had come on for Laborde, got his shot on target but saw it cleared by Desler (86'). 

Bułka saves Le Gym

But Les Aiglons weren't the only ones getting forward - Toulouse were much more attacking towards the end of the match. Heroic as they all pulled together in defence, they tackled and countered - and repelled, as was the case with Sierro and Desler's attempts, which were cleared by Dante and Bard respectively (61'). Then it was Thuram who   Cissoko's shot after Bułka had been beaten (79'). At the end of regulation time, Nice's last line of defence saved his side's blushes by repelling another Cissoko effort (90'). 

At the end of the day, Le Gym, who notched their eighth clean sheet in a row - their tenth this season - are still going strong. With 29 points to their name, they are still hot on the heels of PSG in the standings as they get set to travel to Nantes for their Round 14 clash next Saturday (21:00).

Hugo Rondet