Since Strasbourg humiliated him (3-0) on his lawn on December 5, the Gym has chained four consecutive successes in L1.

After Rennes, Lens and Brest, the men of Christophe Galtier therefore came to the end of Nantes.

With 39 points, Nice is thus performing a very good accounting operation: Nantes is relegated to ten points, and Marseille will be forced to beat Lille on Sunday evening to pick up.

However, this victory was laborious and acquired after a match controlled over certain periods only.

Until the end, the Canaries also pushed to equalize, without success.

We had to wait for a superb ride from Kephren Thuram, who left his camp to beat Alban Lafont from the left after a stint with Amine Gouiri (2-1, 56th), to see the Rouge et Noir regain the advantage and win.

Thuram stands out

Arranged in 5-4-1 with the only Randal Kolo Muani at the forefront, Nantes had, at the start, the objective of waiting as a block and countering.

Despite a good start from Nice, it quickly almost worked following poor control from Dante.

The young Khephren Thuram scored the winning goal for OGC Nice during the reception of FC Nantes at the Allianz Riviera, January 14, 2022 Valery HACHE AFP

Kolo Muani took the opportunity to steal the ball from the Brazilian central defender.

But it was without counting on the good return of the ghost Jordan Amavi, holder with Nice for the first time since his transfer to Aston Villa in the summer of 2015. And especially on the solid exit of Walter Benitez in the feet of Nantes (16th ).

With more than 70% possession, the Aiglons did not stop attacking.

They were logically rewarded when, for his debut in Ligue 1, Abdoulaye Sylla, 21, countered with his hand and in the area a header from Dante at the far post, on a corner from Justin Kluivert (20th).

Kasper Dolberg took the opportunity to penalize Nantes and score his sixth goal of the season in the league, his second in two matches in 2022 (1-0, 21st).

On the other hand, the Danish international, who turned around, was at fault in the Nice wall, during the equalization on a free kick from Andrei Girotto just before the break (1-1, 45th).

It is especially the big fault of hand of Benitez which allowed Nantes to return to the locker room without being led.

Andrei Girotto scores the Nantes equalizer in Nice, January 14, 2022 Valery HACHE AFP

After leading, Nice stopped playing in the first half.

If the start of the second half was different, the offensive animation left something to be desired.

Until Thuram, excellent, does not distinguish himself (56th) and offers a precious success to his people.

This defeat is a setback for Nantes, which bows for the first time in five games.

© 2022 AFP