How Nice kept a clean sheet against Lyon’s attacking threat

After their huge victory over PSG, Lyon continued the battle in Ligue 1 this weekend as they visited Nice. The visitors came to this match with the plan to disrupt their opponent’s play with pressing. This generated some good recoveries and dangerous counter-attacks. However, they ended up with a goalless first half despite some goalscoring opportunities. This tactical analysis will show how Nice were able to beat Lyon by a fairly late goal.

Lyon were guaranteed to remain third whatever the result. Although the hosts were only ninth before kickoff, with a victory Nice could rise up the table. As a result, they had to take this clash seriously, especially after a big defeat against Lille in their previous game.

Lineups

Genesios side operated with the usual pair in front of the defence, Tanguy Ndombele and Houssem Aouar, as a double pivot. Nabil Fekir occupied the 10 space while Memphis Depay and Bertrand Traore had important roles since they were often found free on the wings, especially ex-Manchester United forward Depay. This meant they could provide crosses to the box, where Moussa Dembele was waiting up front.

Former Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira opted for his favourite 4-3-3 formation. In Vieira’s system, one midfielder stays deeper in possession and two occupy the second line. Namely, Wylan Cyprien remained deep thus Remi Walter and Adrien Tameze pushed forward. This is the same pattern what saw from him at New York City FC.

Opening minutes

In the first few minutes, we saw how Lyon attempted to build from deep. Meanwhile Nice pressed high with their 4-3-3 formation where Myziane Maolida and Allan Saint-Maximin used curved runs to press the opposition centre-backs and block the route towards the full-backs at the same time.