Football-Nice loses ground in the battle for second place with the defeat of Strasbourg
NICE, France (Reuters) – Nice lost ground in the battle for second place in Ligue 1 after being overwhelmed by a 3-0 loss to visiting Racing Strasbourg on Sunday.
Ludovic Ajorque, Habib Diallo and Adrien Thomasson found the back of the net in a convincing collective performance to offer Nice their third defeat in their last five outings.
The result leaves the Azuré team in fourth place with 27 points in 17 games, 15 behind leaders Paris St Germain and four behind second-placed Stade Rennais.
Strasbourg moved up to sixth place with 26 points, meaning nine teams are within five points with third-placed Olympique de Marseille with 29 points leading the charge behind Rennes.
At the Allianz Riviera in Nice it was a one-sided affair and Ajorque beat Melvin Bard to retrieve Ibrahima Sissoko’s deep ball to open the scoring from inside the box in the 21st minute with his ninth league goal of the season.
The visitors continued to threaten and, five minutes before the break, Diallo appeared to be knocked down in the box by Jean-Clair Todibo but the penalty request was dismissed after a review by the VAR.
Diallo doubled the advantage in the 82nd with a heel at close range and Thomasson buckled it in style as he passed the ball past Walter Benitez after being set up by Diallo.
(Written by Julien Pretot; Editing by Alex Richardson)