Yahoo Sports PLAYER RATINGS | OGC Nice 2-2 Lille: Tom Louchet’s last-gasp equaliser sees spoils shared
Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Round 11, 10/11/24
Tom Louchet netted a dramatic late equaliser for OGC Nice as they came from behind to salvage a point against Lille OSC (2-2) in a result that sees both sides extend their respective unbeaten runs.
The Match
When Nice pressed, they caused Lille problems. Pressing led to a good chance for Evann Guessand early on but fed through by Mohamed-Ali Cho, but Alexasandro did well to make a last-ditch recovery. The problem for Le Gym was that their pressing wasn’t continuous, and when LOSC played out, they were dangerous.
The space vacated by the marauding Jonathan Clauss was targeted and Matias Fernandez-Pardo exploited the space afforded brilliantly. It was the Belgian who opened the scoring, catching Youssouf Ndayishimiye in two minds, beating the Burundi international, bursting into the box, and finishing past Marcin Bulka at the near post.
Minutes later, Jonathan Daivd, largely subdued, should have doubled the lead, but he could only direct his free header from seven yards into the grateful gloves of Bulka.
Making a rare deviation from his 3-4-3, Franck Haise brought on Sofiane Diop for Melvin Bard at the break. The change of personnel and system reaped immediate rewards. It was the substitute Diop that brought Le Gym level as he latched onto Clauss’ ball across goal.
From a Lille point-of-view, the pressure abated and, attacking against a defence unaccustomed to playing as a four, they had joy themselves. As he did in the first half, Fernandez-Pardo had the run of the game down the left-hand side and he beat Clauss, reached the by-line and cut back for Benjamin André. The Frenchman’s effort hit the foot of the post but fortuitously fell straight back to him. Rather than try again, he laid off Mitchel Bakker instead, who accepted the invitation and blasted past Bulka.
Ali Abdi had two snapshots at goal but failed to draw level, however, it was Lille who looked the more likely to add to the scoreline. Gabriel Gudmundsson hit the post, as did Bafodé Diakité. But the two goals looked to have sufficed for Les Dogues until in the 96th minute when Tom Louchet popped up in a crowded box to finish past Lucas Chevalier and into the bottom corner.
The result means that Le Gym are unbeaten in Ligue 1 in their last seven encounters, whilst LOSC’s unbeaten run in all competitions stretches to 11.
OGC Nice player ratings
Marcin Bulka – 5
Melvin Bard – 4
Replaced by Sofiane Diop (5) at the break.
Youssouf Ndayishimiye – 2
At fault for LOSC’s opener, Ndayishimiye, who wore the armband on the day, never really recovered. Putting in an error-prone performance from start to finish and ultimately costing his side.
Moïse Bombito – 4
Ali Abdi – 5
Tanguy Ndombélé – 6
Pablo Rosario – 5
Jonathan Clauss – 4
Despite getting the assist for Diop, the France international was caught out too often and comprehensively beaten by Fernandez-Pardo in what was a match-defining duel for Les Dogues.
Jérémie Boga – 5
Evann Guessand – 7
He drove Nice up the pitch with his slaloming runs and knitted the play in the final third. He completed four out of his five dribbles and was also key to the Nice press, when it was effective, particularly early on.
Mohamed-Ali Cho – 4
Lille player ratings
Lucas Chevalier – 5
Mitchel Bakker – 7
Alexsandro – 7
Bafodé Diakité – 6
Aïssa Mandi – 5
Ngal’ayel Mukau – 5
Benjamin André – 6
Controlled the midfield for large periods and showed all of his experience to set up Bakker in the second half.
Ayyoub Bouaddi – 5
Matias Fernandez-Pardo – 8
Having scored the first, the second was of his own making. He gave Clauss and Ndayishimiye a torrid time, constantly isolating his defender one-on-one and beating them. His performance looked like being a match-winning one, until Louchet’s late intervention.
Jonathan David – 4
Edon Zhegrova – 4
