Speaking after his side’s 0-0 draw, Montpellier HSC manager Michel Der Zakarian said that OGC Nice are “a pain to play against.”
Few sides have managed to break down Nice this season. Francesco Farioli is still unbeaten since taking charge of the club last summer. Not only have Nice, the current Ligue 1 leaders, not been beaten, but they are also yet to go behind in a match, whilst they have also kept nine clean sheets in the opening 12 games of the season, conceding just four goals in that time. The last time Le Gym conceded was on 15th September, when they conceded twice in a 3-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain.
Montpellier went close to ending that run. Akor Adams struck the outside of the post in the first half. He did so again in the second half but had he found the net, the Nigerian forward’s finish would have been ruled out for a clear offside. Ultimately, Der Zakarian will be happy with a point, but he did admit that his opponents were “a pain to play against.”
“There are no regrets. We played a good game tactically. We defended very well, we attacked well. Adams is a bit unhappy because he had a good shot that could have gone in. There were lots of positives. We did what we needed to do, but we lacked a bit of success to win it,” said the Montpellier manager.
Der Zakarian added, “They didn’t put us in a lot of difficulty because we defended very well. They are a pain to play against. To beat them, you need to be good tactically, defend well, and be intelligent because if you leave them too much space, they’ll punish you.”
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
