Nice was booed on the field a week after its players were attacked by supporters. The French team’s crisis on and off the pitch deepened as it lost 1-0 at home to Angers in Ligue 1 on Sunday for a seventh straight loss across all competitions. After last week’s defeat at Lorient, Nice players were confronted by a large number of their supporters when they returned to the club’s training and academy centre.
Players and staff were reportedly assaulted and fans shouted insults and demanded greater commitment from the squad. Jérémie Boga and Terem Moffi took multiple blows, including to the head and groin. Those two players were absent against Angers and their teammates took the field with the names of either Boga or Moffi on the backs of their jerseys instead of their own.
The jeers rang out right from the start. Yassin Belkhdim scored for Angers in the 33rd minute and Nice’s hopes of ending its losing streak diminished early in the second half when Tom Louchet was sent off for a foul on Jacques Ekomié. Surprise win Lorient upset fifth-placed Lyon 1-0 to move up to 13th.
Lyon had to play the entire second half with 10 men after Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off in the 42nd minute following two quick yellow cards. Lorient had taken the lead three minutes before the dismissal with a goal from Pablo Pagis. Off the bottom Auxerre moved off the bottom of the table with a 3-1 win over Metz, which took its opponent’s spot. The result ended a nine-match winless run for Auxerre.
Lassine Sinayoko’s penalty and a goal by Oussama El-Azzouzi three minutes later put Auxerre 2-0 ahead before Gauthier Hein halved the deficit on the stroke of halftime. But Kévin Danois scored his first Ligue 1 goal late on to secure the win. Le Havre forward Issa Soumaré failed to convert a penalty as another relegation fight, against Paris FC, ended in a 0-0 draw.
