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Inconsistent Nice registered their first home win of the season with a hard-fought 1-0 over high-flying Le Mans at the Stade du Ray on Wednesday.
Summer signing Mamadou Bagayoko scored the winning goal on 22 minutes after Bakari Koné intercepted a loose ball in the Le Mans penalty box, committed the 'keeper Yohann Pelé before sliding the ball into the path of the former Nantes frontman for a simple tap-in.
Le Mans finsihed the first-half the stronger of the two sides, whowing glimpses of their swift attacking football, but the promoted surprise packet failed to unduly trouble Damien Grégorini in the Nice goal.
After the break Le Mans Coach Frédéric Hantz brought the League's top scorer Tulio De Melo into the game at the expense of Nigerian striker D'ido Ekhosuehi. Nice Coach Frédéric Antonetti replied in kind by taking off inventive midfielder Sébastien Roudet and shoring up his defence with the injection of Florian Jarjat into the fray.
Nice effectively neutralised the visitor's threat while themselves only proving dangerous from set-pieces.
Le Mans' first away defeat of the season see them lose second spot in the standings while Nice's return to winning ways has the Côte d'Azur outfit back up to 11th with 11points.
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