<span style="font-weight: normal;">PLAYER RATINGS | OGC Nice 1-1 Auxerre: Florian Ayé snatches point as wasteful 10-man Nice punished</span> | OneFootball

Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Round 26, 14/03/25

OGC Nice conceded an injury-time equaliser to AJ Auxerre (1-1) as they squandered a big chance to consolidate their place on the Ligue 1 podium.

The Match

“This atmosphere is brought to you by the LFP’s incompetence,” read a banner unfurled by Nice’s ultras pre-matchIt was a tepid atmosphere indeed at a sparsely-populated Allianz Riviera (officially an attendance of 18,640 spectators) but the players on the pitch did very little to bring the crowd into the game. It was a slow start, lacking in intensity from both sides. It was only around the 35-minute mark that a bit of dynamism was injected into the game as Gaëtan Laborde’s shot was deflected over by the recovering Gabriel Osho.

It was from the resulting corner that Nice took the lead. Evann Guessand’s header took a fortunate deflection off Kévin Danois that saw his relatively weak effort fly into the roof of the net. Le Gym could have doubled their advantage before the break had Hicham Boudaoui shown a bit more composure when set up well by Tom Louchet on the edge of the box. It was a story that repeated itself over and over in the second half.

Laborde squandered a volleyed effort from close range, failing to make any contact at all on the swivel. Boudaoui then missed a flurry of good chances, notably a rebound after Donovan Léon saved excellently to deny Locuhet one-on-one. On the second effort, Boudaoui really should have doubled the advantage.

Mohamed Ali-Cho, put through by Boudaoui, then had the perfect opportunity to end the game but saw his effort heroically saved by Léon. Nice would be punished. Melvin Bard was sent off for a clumsy challenge, raking his studs down Danois’ calf. Le Gym tried to see out the result but failed to do so with Florian Ayé finishing emphatically into the roof of Bulka’s net.

It is two points dropped for Nice, who could drop to fourth if local rivals AS Monaco pick up a win by more than two goals against SCO Angers on Saturday. Next up for Les Aiglons? Monaco.

OGC Nice player ratings

Marcin Bulka – 5

Dante – 4

Moïse Bombito – 5

An almost error-free display from the Canadian, who was rarely tested in all truth. He pulled out one of the rare moments of quality in the entire match, launching a ball over the top for Louchet, who failed to beat Léon one-on-one. He was slightly deeper than the rest of the defensive line for Auxerre’s late equaliser.

Youssouf Ndayishimiye – 5

Melvin Bard – 4

Baptiste Santamaria – 6

Hicham Boudaoui – 5

The Algerian had two matches in one: one with the ball and the other without it. Out-of-possession, he was valuable and combative, helping Nice to establish their dominance in midfield but he was so wasteful in the final third with his erratic decision-making and lack of composure when asked to apply the finish.

Tom Louchet – 6

Sofiane Diop – 5

Gaëtan Laborde – 4

Evann Guessand – 6

A goal to his name but far from his best match of the season. He is now on 11 goals for the season but lacked his dynamism and didn’t destabilise the opposition as he has so frequently done this season. Not dazzling but certainly efficient; he has often been accused of being the opposite.

Auxerre selected player ratings

Hamed Traoré – 4

Gabriel Osho – 7

Donovan Léon – 8

His saves kept Auxerre in the match at times. He made two crucial ones on the stretch in the second half, denying Louchet and then even more impressively, Cho. His distribution was good throughout, picking out Théo Bair unchallenged on numerous occasions.

Ki-Jana Hoever – 4

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Nice