In a tense and gritty Europa League opener at the Allianz Riviera, AS Roma edged OGC Nice 2–1 thanks to second-half goals from defenders Evan N’Dicka and Gianluca Mancini.
Nice rallied late through a Terem Moffi penalty but could not breach Roma’s resolve in the closing minutes and were left to rue a brief defensive lapse that cost them dearly after a tightly contested opening period.
The complexion of the match suggested caution and respect in the first 45 minutes. Neither side could fashion a clear-cut chance, and the tactical discipline in both ranks outweighed bold attacking intent.
Roma’s Gianluca Mancini had a header disallowed for offside—one of the few flashes of attacking promise in an otherwise subdued half. Manager Franck Haise for Nice had stressed the importance of a clean start, and his side largely contained the threat from Roma’s forward units. Yet behind the defensive solidity, there lurked an awareness that a single moment might prove decisive.
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Into the second half, the match shifted dramatically. Just seven minutes after the interval, Roma broke the deadlock. A whipped cross, delivered with precision, found N’Dicka at the near post as he escaped his marker. The defender nodded home, and the away side took the lead. Barely three minutes later, the advantage doubled.
Kostas Tsimikas delivered a dangerous ball into the box, and Mancini, moving with poise and timing, volleyed it into the net to make it 2–0. The swift double blow stunned Nice and swung momentum heavily in Roma’s favour.
The sequence of two goals in quick succession drew sharp criticism from Haise, who later described that brief spell as the moment the match slipped away. His assertion that Nice “defended well for 90-95% of the game” hinted at his frustration—that a single lapse in concentration, few though they were, proved decisive.
Nice tried to respond. Their chance arrived in the 77th minute when Antoine Mendy, maneuvering down the flank, was brought down in the penalty area by Niccolò Pisilli in a contest that the referee deemed worthy of a spot kick.
From the spot, Moffi composed himself and dispatched the penalty with confidence, reducing the deficit to 2–1 and reigniting hope among the home fans. The Allianz Riviera was suddenly alive, pushing its side to chase the equalizer.
Roma, however, managed the final quarter of an hour with maturity and tactical composure. They absorbed Nice’s pressure, thwarted attempts to break through the box, and closed down space in midfield.
A few nervy moments unfolded late—some speculation over whether Mateo Svilar would have to be at his best—but in the end Roma held on. The away side’s defensive contribution had not merely been a footnote: it was the fulcrum for the result.
From a performance perspective, the man of the match would have to be Pellegrini—not on the scoresheet, but for the decisive shift he triggered with his introduction at halftime.
His presence brought a renewed sharpness to Roma’s attack and allowed Ajax’s rigid defensive lines to be probed more fluidly. Combined with disciplined defending, it was enough to prevail.
At the back, both N’Dicka and Mancini delivered more than goal contributions: they marshaled their units, neutralized Nice’s threats, and ensured solidity when the stakes were high.
For Nice, costly mistakes in a short window undermined hours of otherwise competent defending. Their goal came late and might have injected renewed hope, but the remainder of the match allowed no further recovery.
Yehvann Diouf, Nice’s goalkeeper, came under scrutiny for his role in the opening goal—some critics judged that his distribution led to the corner from which N’Dicka opened the scoring.
Others believed he might have done more to handle the volley from Mancini, though the linesman’s flag had disallowed it. In any case, his performance failed to live up to expectations, and he was one of several who suffered blame in post-match ratings.
For Roma, the victory was a welcome kick-start to their European campaign. The defensive units’ contributions extended beyond simply keeping the scoreline: their attacking runs and set-piece potency gave the team an edge.
The win also built momentum off the back of a hard-fought Derby success. There remain areas to refine—Gasparini himself acknowledged that conceding a penalty was a preventable error and urged the squad to learn immediately from the lapse.