Bradley Barcola continued a strong run of recent form to help lead Paris Saint-Germain to an away win against OGC Nice on Wednesday evening.
On a lively evening at the Allianz Riviera, Paris Saint-Germain rolled out 2-1 winners, denying hosts OGC Nice a chance at playing in the UEFA Champions League next season. Bradley Barcola was the danger man for PSG, with a goal and an assist leading the way for a heavily rotated side.
The stakes were quite different for the two sides, and their lineups reflected that — Francesco Farioli started a first choice eleven as the hosts sought to put pressure on Stade Brestois in fourth, while Luis Enrique rested his Trophées UNFP-winning quartet of Kylian Mbappé, Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Ousmane Dembélé.
It was the hosts who took the initiative with a potential place in the Champions League on offer and Khéphren Thuram hit the post inside of five minutes with a low shot from the edge of the area. It was PSG who struck first though, as Barcola robbed Jordan Lotomba, exchanged passes with Fabián Ruiz and gave his side the lead just over fifteen minutes into the match.
Not satisfied there, Barcola helped double the lead with a low cross minutes later, turned in by Yoram Zague for the teenager’s first goal in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. Nice, urged on by their home support, would pull a goal back, though as a mazy run by Jérémie Boga saw him lay the ball off for Mohamed-Ali Cho to make it 2-1 ten minutes before the break. Boga then forced PSG ‘keeper Arnau Tenas into a fine save as the match continued to sparkle.
One goal, one assist and one place in the Euros? 🇫🇷👀 pic.twitter.com/8GfZfa7CMN
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) May 15, 2024
After the break, the pace of the match dropped as both sides struggled to create good chances. Midway through the half, both Farioli and Enrique made a handful of changes, trying to inject some life into the match, but to little effect. Nice had the better of the chances, but did little to test Arnau Tenas.
That failure to make more of the match going forward was then undone further as Melvin Bard was sent off with fifteen minutes to play, all but sealing the result as Les Aiglons would have a proverbial mountain to climb a man and a goal down.
The result means Nice will finish fifth as they can neither catch Brest in fourth or be caught up by RC Lens, who remained four points behind. PSG will finish their season away to FC Metz while Nice will head to LOSC Lille on Sunday evening.
