Nice beat Saint-Étienne 4-1 last night and locked down their Ligue 1 status inside an empty Allianz Riviera, punishment for that earlier pitch invasion but also the clean slate Claude Puel demanded.
Puel stayed with his 3-4-2-1, Elye Wahi running the line ahead of Tom Louchet and Mohamed Ali Cho, while Philippe Montanier kept Saint-Étienne in a 4-3-3 that pushed Irvin Cardona and Lucas Stassin high. The first half felt jittery, not least after Dante’s booking in the 46th minute, but Wahi’s six attempts and Jonathan Clauss’ steady deliveries hinted at the space Nice would finally exploit.
Puel’s double change at the restart — Sofiane Diop for Melvin Bard and Kaïl Boudache for Cho — proved decisive. Clauss gave the night its breakthrough when he scored in the 62nd minute, a reward for the pressure that grew once Diop tucked inside to overload the right. Montanier answered with Florian Tardieu and João Ferreira on 63 minutes, yet their first real surge arrived only after VAR confirmed a spot kick in the 76th minute and Zuriko Davitashvili levelled from the penalty in the 79th.
The response was immediate. Boudache restored the lead in the 81st minute, validating Puel’s half-time call. Louchet then slipped Wahi through for the third in the 87th minute, before Wahi collected Diop’s pass to finish again in the 90th minute, yellow card and all in the 88th for the exuberant celebration. By the time Isak Jansson came on for Wahi at 90+5, this was a statement about resilience more than relegation.
Nice’s bench impact told the story. Diop stacked three key passes in 45 minutes, Boudache hit the target twice and scored once, and Puel managed the closing stages calmly by sending Abdulay Juma Bah on for Dante in the 78th minute. Saint-Étienne must wonder how they ceded momentum so quickly after drawing level, even with Gautier Larsonneur posting six saves and Kevin Pedro fighting off wave after wave on the left.
Key numbers:
- Shots on target: Nice 10, Saint-Étienne 2
- Possession: Nice 52 percent, Saint-Étienne 48 percent
- Total passes: Nice 421 at 86 percent accuracy, Saint-Étienne 388 at 84 percent
- Corners: Nice 6, Saint-Étienne 4
For Nice, the summer now becomes about reinforcing a squad that flirted with the drop for too long but has a core worth keeping. Montanier faces a harder brief: Saint-Étienne need pace in transition and sharper end product before the new campaign begins. For more international context as squads recalibrate, see Hassan’s reshuffled Pharaohs edge Russia as World Cup prep ends on a high.
