Saturday, September 25, 2021 at 6:51 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme

OGC Nice did very important things on Saturday evening with a view to the ranking in the Ligue 1. Christophe Galtier’s team was 0-3 too strong on a visit to Saint-Etienne and rises from seventh to third place in the ranking. Calvin Stengs started in the starting line-up and had an important part in the victory. Ten minutes after the break, the attacker took the second goal on a pass from Khéphren Thuram and ended the game.

Nice has had a great start to the season and has only lost once so far, visiting FC Lorient (1-0) last Wednesday. Against Saint-Étienne, the initial phase was for the visitors. Amine Gouiri thought early in the game to take the lead from close range, but his effort was narrowly saved with a great block. The second attempt of Hassane Kamara’s match also failed to yield a goal. The midfielder got the ball from a rebound, but had to watch as goalkeeper Stefan Bajic made a great save.

After fifteen minutes of play, the opening goal would follow. Gouiri took his place behind a free kick from about thirty meters and saw his bet come in with some fortune in the left corner. In an attempt to block the ball, Mahdi Camara unluckily worked the leather through his thigh behind his own goalkeeper: 1-0. Nice had opportunities to further expand the score in the first half, but Gouiri, among others, was unhappy in the completion when Bajic again stood in the way. Nice was also the dominant party after the break and Stengs quickly lifted the margin to two.

The left leg received the ball on the right side of the sixteen and found the left corner with a watched shot: 2-0. For Stengs it meant his first goal in the service of Nice. Galtier then brought in Pablo Rosario, among others, and saw how his team finally closed the game five minutes before the end. Matheus Cunha took care of the preparatory work and delivered the ball to Andy Delort, for whom it was then a breeze to put the 0-3 on the board. Shortly before that, Stengs had already been called off for Jordan Lotomba.