OGC Nice lost 1-0 away to Elfsborg on Thursday. The Aiglons are out of the Europa League.

It was in Boras, in the snow and cold of Sweden, that Le Gym's Europa League adventure came to an end. Although Franck Haise's men still have a match to play against Bodø/Glimt at the Allianz Riviera on Thursday 30 January (9pm), it will do nothing to change their European destiny, as the gap separating them from the top 24 places is too big. Despite dominating possession and being physically superior, Les Aiglons failed to convert their chances into goals on Thursday. Elfsborg had no such problem, scoring from one of their few chances of the game.

It was Gustav Henriksson who was on hand to meet Besfort Zeneli's well-taken corner, heading the ball past a helpless Maxime Dupé at the near post (1-0, 62'). For the first European match of his career, the Côte d'Azur keeper had little work to do for the rest of the game, despite a few dangerous set-piece situations, in particular Ahmed Qasem's headers (4', 12').

LE GYM LACK CUTTING EDGE

The Rouge et Noir, led by Sofiane Diop wearing the captain's armband for the first time since his arrival in Nice in the summer of 2022, generally controlled proceedings in a slow-paced first half. The visitors found it difficult to break through the compact Swedish defence, which was sat in a low block in front of their box. Youssoufa Moukoko failed to hit the target with a swerving shot (29'), while Tom Louchet was denied by the keeper (36').

Needing a win to keep their slim hopes of qualification alive, Les Aiglons stepped up a gear after the break. Youssoufa Moukoko came close twice, both times coming up against opposing defenders, and in particular Sebastian Holmén, who made a decisive block in front of his goalkeeper (57').

LOTS OF CHANCES

With Jonathan Clauss, Ali Abdi and Evann Guessand all coming on after Elfsborg had taken the lead, Diop and Co pushed hard for an equaliser in the final 20 minutes, but it was not to be. Louchet's powerful shot probably deserved a better fate than crashing against Pettersson's crossbar before bouncing off the goal line (71‘), and the Abdi-Guessand combination should have resulted in an equaliser, had Henriksson not been on hand to clear off the line (72’).

The 27-year-old goalkeeper was unstoppable and rounded off his superb performance by twice saying ‘no’ to Badredine Bouanani, who was well placed to finish off a fine Nice move (85‘), and then tried his luck from further away with a curling effort (90’ + 1').

Before closing their European chapter next Thursday, Les Aiglons return to the Allianz Riviera this weekend for a fiery derby against Olympique de Marseille, set for 8.45pm on Sunday 26 January.

Hugo Rondet