Nice maintain European push with Bordeaux stalemate

BORDEAUX: Nice underlined their European aspirations with a goalless draw at Bordeaux on Friday which consolidated their third place in Ligue 1.

The Riviera side, 6-1 winners at home against Bordeaux last September, quickly doused any hopes of revenge Willy Sagnol's side might have had.

Lacking inspiration in front of goal, it was a disappointing result for Bordeaux who missed the chance to move to within one point of Nice.

Nice have 41 points from 27 games, 29 points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain who host struggling Reims on Saturday, with Bordeaux sitting ninth, four points behind their visitors.

"You have to admit that Nice are a great team who aren't on the foot of the podium (third) for nothing and who will be in the reckoning until the end of the season," said Sagnol.

Without top scorer Hatem Ben Arfa, Claude Puel's side had few early opportunities apart from a header on seven minutes by defender Paul Baysse following a freekick by Ivorian Jean Michael Seri.

But Nice goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale was made to work over the next half hour with a wave of pressure from the hosts lead by Argentine midfielder Valentin Vada.

Mali forward Cheick Diabate, so prolific in January, missed two chances either side of the break, with Bordeaux's Ivorian striker Thomas Toure having no more success.

Bordeaux's France international fullback Mathieu Debuchy, on loan from Arsenal, was forced off after 82 minutes with a hamstring injury.

"It doesn't seem serious but we'll need 48 hours to give a more precise diagnosis," said Sagnol with the player set to play with France in two pre-Euro 2016 friendlies against the Netherlands and Russia next month. - AFP