Nice may have been without Mario Balotelli but they
ground out a 1-0 win at Nancy on Sunday to go
back to the top of the Ligue 1 table.
With Balotelli, scorer of four goals in his first two
appearances in French football, left behind on the
Cote d’Azur due to an adductor problem, his fellow
striker Alassane Plea scored the only goal of the
game at the Stade Marcel-Picot.
The result maintained Nice’s unbeaten start to the
French season under new coach Lucien Favre and
allowed them to end the weekend at the summit
after Monaco briefly usurped them on Saturday
evening.
Monaco had been taken apart in a 4-0 derby defeat
in Nice in midweek but bounced back to beat Angers
2-1 in the absence of Radamel Falcao, who was
recovering from concussion.
Nice’s victory means they are a point clear of Monaco
and three points clear of Toulouse, who stunned
stumbling Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 on Friday to
leave the champions in fourth spot.
In a far from memorable contest, a weakened Nice
were lucky not to be behind with Nancy having the
best chances before the visitors went in front just
after the hour mark.
Valentin Eysseric’s delightful ball into the box found
Plea and he produced a first-time finish for his
third goal of the campaign.
The win came on the day former Nice coach Rene
Marsiglia, who was in charge of the side in the
2011/12 season, died after a long battle with cancer
at the age of 57.
Earlier on Sunday, Saint-Etienne came good in the
second half to beat Lille 3-1 and leave their
opponents rooted to the foot of the table.
Slovenian international Robert Beric put Les Verts in
front after the hour mark before teenage debutant
Arnaud Nordin increased the home side’s advantage.
Renato Civelli pulled one back but Nolan Roux
secured the points in stoppage time and Lille are a
point adrift of Nancy at the bottom.
This was their fourth straight defeat and it is the
first time they have propped up the table since the
1995/96 season.
Marseille entertain Nantes in a meeting of two
struggling sides later on Sunday.
