At the Allianz Riviera on Thursday night, Nice finally found respite in a bruising UEFA Europa League campaign, beating GO Ahead Eagles 3–1 in League Stage – 7. Claude Puel’s team, rooted near the bottom of the overall table before kick-off, surged into a two-goal half-time lead and managed the game well enough after the break to secure just their second victory of the group phase. For Melvin Boel’s visitors, who arrived with twice as many points as Nice, the defeat stalls any upward momentum and underlines their defensive frailties despite long spells of possession.
First Half Analysis
Nice started with purpose and were rewarded early. On 10', Charles Vanhoutte struck the opener, finishing after being set up by Tom Louchet to give the hosts a 1–0 lead and a rare injection of confidence in Europe. GO Ahead Eagles tried to respond but their frustration surfaced before the half-hour, with Calvin Twigt booked for a foul on 27', a sign of the away side’s struggle to translate their build-up into threat.
Nice’s attacking midfield line in the 4-2-3-1 continued to find pockets of space, and on 41' Tiago Gouveia doubled the advantage with a second goal for the hosts, this time unassisted. That strike sent Puel’s side into the interval 2–0 up, a scoreline that reflected their clinical edge rather than any territorial dominance, and put GO Ahead Eagles in a deep hole despite their attempts to play through midfield.
Second Half & Tactical Shifts
The second half opened with rising tension. On 52', Vanhoutte was booked for argument, and in the same minute Dean James received a yellow card for GO Ahead Eagles, also for dissent, as tempers frayed with the stakes of the tie and the wider league context weighing on both sides.
Boel reacted decisively on 56', making a double substitution. Midfielder Evert Linthorst went off, replaced by defender Giovanni van Zwam, a move that slightly rebalanced the back line. More tellingly, holding midfielder Calvin Twigt made way for forward Finn Stokkers, an attacking switch that pushed the visitors into a more front-foot posture in search of a route back into the game.
Yet Nice struck again first. On 59', Gouveia grabbed his second of the night and Nice’s third, this time finishing after service from Mohamed-Ali Cho. At 3–0, Puel could start managing minutes and energy. On 62', he withdrew Louchet for Morgan Sanson in midfield, a like-for-like change to maintain control, and replaced Cho with Jonathan Clauss, introducing a defender for an attacking midfielder and adding defensive security down the flank.
GO Ahead Eagles’ attacking gamble paid partial dividends. On 68', Stokkers, the earlier substitute, pulled one back, scoring from a pass by Jakob Breum to make it 3–1 and briefly reopen the contest. Puel responded on 75' with two more changes: centre-back Abdulay Juma Bah was replaced by veteran defender Dante, reinforcing leadership and experience at the back, while two-goal hero Gouveia made way for forward Kaël Boudache, keeping fresh legs in the front line while protecting his match-winner.
Boel continued to chase the game. On 78', winger Oskar Siira Sivertsen came off for forward Richonell Margaret, another offensive tweak, while left-back Dean James was replaced by defender Aske Adelgaard. As the match grew stretched, Clauss picked up a yellow card for a foul on 81', reflecting Nice’s increasing focus on game management. A minute later, Vanhoutte, already booked, was sensibly withdrawn for midfielder Everton Pereira on 82', reducing Nice’s disciplinary risk.
Deep into stoppage time, GO Ahead Eagles made a final defensive change as right-back Mats Deijl went off for Julius Dirksen on 90+2'. Margaret’s late yellow card for a foul on 90+4' summed up the visitors’ frustration as Nice calmly saw out the win.
Statistical Deep Dive
The numbers underline the paradox of this match. GO Ahead Eagles controlled 65% of the ball and completed 453 of 529 passes with an impressive 86% accuracy, far superior to Nice’s 278 passes at 76% accuracy and just 35% possession. Yet it was the hosts who dictated the scoreboard.
In attack, the shot count was remarkably even: Nice had 19 total attempts to GO Ahead Eagles’ 18. The hosts put 6 shots on goal, matching the visitors’ 5, but crucially converted three of them. Nice’s expected goals of 2.16 suggests they slightly overperformed their chances, while GO Ahead Eagles’ 1.7 xG aligns closely with their single goal, highlighting a marginal underperformance in finishing. Both goalkeepers recorded three saves, and with a combined 19 shots blocked (7 by Nice, 5 by the Dutch side), much of the action was contested in and around the box.
Discipline reflected a competitive but not overly violent contest: Nice committed 8 fouls to GO Ahead Eagles’ 9, with the home side picking up two yellow cards and the visitors three. The 12 corners won by GO Ahead Eagles, double Nice’s 6, emphasised how often they penned the hosts back without finding the cutting edge to change the result.
Standings & Implications
In the broader Europa League table, this victory lifts Nice to 3 points from seven games, with a goal difference of -7 (7 scored, 14 conceded) and a record of WLLLL now brightened slightly by this win. They remain 33rd, but this result at least halts a run of six defeats and offers a platform for Puel to build on. GO Ahead Eagles stay 30th with 6 points, a -8 goal difference (6 for, 14 against) and a 2–5 record. Their form line of LLLLW slips back into a downward trend, and while they have shown they can control matches with the ball, this defeat underlines the need for greater defensive solidity and ruthlessness in both boxes if they are to climb the European standings.
