PLAYER RATINGS | Nice 2-0 Lens: Terem Moffi keeps Nice within touching distance of PSG

Ligue 1, Round 17, 20/12/23

A brace from the substitute Terem Moffi settled a tight contest between OGC Nice and RC Lens in the final match of the year before the Ligue departs for its winter break. 

The game was delayed as smoke billowed out of the Tribune Sud; a wave of fireworks lit up by the Ultras filled the half-empty Allianz Riviera with noise and sound. The explosions died down but the fog of war remained, as the players were left to emulate the pyrotechnic display on the field. 

Each side had their chance to control possession but dominance did not translate easily to threat, as both teams roamed forward but struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities to test either keeper. 

The best opportunity came late in the half as Facundo Medina, tasked tonight in the centre of the Lens’ back three, for the first time looked ill-composed at the heart of the defence. A series of poor decisions almost allowed for Hicham Boudaoui and Evann Guessand to gain possession in the penalty box, but his recovery and their miscoordination did enough to prevent threat from becoming opportunity.

The second half brought far more excitement to the match as the game opened up into a more end-to-end affair, as the attacking talent of both sides began to show their qualities. 

Boudaoui began to grow in influence for Nice as gaps opened up in the final third for the player to express his ability to control the ball in tight spaces, and his combinations with Jérémie Boga’s darting movements on the wing looked to continuously terrorise the left flank. 

Still, Lens came the closest to opening the scoring when David da Costa’s freekick bounced off the post and onto the goalkeeper Marcin Bułka. The ball bounced fortunately for the keeper to