Tag: Moffi

Nice coach Francesco Farioli  singled out Nantes’ Nigeria star Moses Simon for his role in his side’s disappointing  loss away to Nantes at the weekend.

The unbeaten run of Nice this season  was halted with the 1-0 loss to Nantes and coach Farioli described the loss as morale  damper for his team.

 “The goal came from a long ball. We didn’t handle the second ball well. As I said, Nantes are a strong team, with individual talents. Mostafa Mohamed, I knew him in Turkey when he played for Galatasaray and I remembered his qualities. He has become even more mature, sharper, and more explosive.

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 “Moses Simon is also very strong in one-on-one situations. With these players, you can limit their effectiveness, but they will always create one or two chances. Their impact is significant in a match. We managed to give little away to them, but enough for them to score and win the match,” he said.

Farioli also hailed Terem Moffi for making attempts at goals during the encounter.

 “Terem had a good game. In the first half, on three occasions he brought the ball into the box and provided good opportunities for shots. It’s an alternative. For us, it’s an option to play him there. It doesn’t mean he’ll play in that position in every game. It depends on the matches and the way things go,” he added.

OGC Nice striker Terem Moffi  may have added a new lexicon to Ligue1 reportage  as he reflected on his watch winning goal in the 1-0 defeat of Toulouse on Sunday in a tightly-contested encounter at the Allianz Riviera.

The 24-year-old Nigeria International, who slotted home from close range after good work from Morgan Sanson, said he got the crucial 54th  minute goal for Nice at a perfect timing, saying ‘it’s my Goal Time’.

He was practically borrowing  from Sir Alex Ferguson who was credited with Fergie Time – an aphorism for the time added on to the added time in a Manchester United game during his long reign at old Trafford.

Pressed on why he celebrated the winner which  kept Les Aiglons as the only unbeaten team in the top five  leagues in  Europe after 13 Ligue1 matches as if he was  brandishing a wrist watch, the former Lorient striker quipped: “It means my T-Time, Goal Time.”

Since he moved  from Belgian side, Kortrijk, in 2020, Moffi has taken the Ligue 1 by storm with his rich appetite for goals.

At FC Lorient, he scored an impressive 34 goals in 87 appearances in all competitions, before  switching on loan to Nice during the January 2023 Transfer Window.

Last season, he scored six times in 16 matches for the Eagles, even as he grabbed his fourth goal of the on-going campaign against Toulouse on Sunday.

 “First and foremost, I think the goal was important for the team, and then for myself as well,” he said, adding that he was happy to have  contributed to the success of the team.

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He continued: “We played and fought together; it’s important to be together; because if we are together, nothing can break us. We had a slow start in the first half and the second half was a bit better.

 “Scoring a goal opened up the game and that was really important for us.The goal changed everything – the confidence level and the way you play. It changes everything.”

Meanwhile, OGC Nice coach Francesco Fariol has praised  his wards for their collective efforts against Toulouse.

 “For the umpteenth time, the boys played a really very special match,” Farioli said. “We knew that it would be complicated after the international break. We had a few injuries and suspension, so we knew that it would be difficult.

“We didn’t produce our best game of the season. In the first half, we were sluggish but we came back in the second half with a better state of mind and more desire to go for the win. It was a reward for what these boys do all week in training,” he enthused.

Coach Francesco Farioli of Nice has hailed Terem Moffi for breaking his goal drought in their Week 13 win over Toulouse at the weekend to become the only unbeaten team in Europe this season.

The win pushed Nice to second place in the French Ligue 1 table with one point separating them from the leader PSG which has 30 points from 13 matches.

This season, Nice had won eight matches and five draws as Moffi and his teammates are yet to lose any match this season.

Excited with the partnership of Moffi and Gaëtan Laborde in the attacking line-up coupled with the lone goal scored by the Nigerian.

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Farioli said: “I had a feeling during the match. I was hoping that the change would alter the dynamic of the game. We were struggling to keep the ball up front and their centre-backs were very aggressive. I thought that a slightly more mobile player like Gaëtan could counter them and that Terem could attack from deep. They were able to adapt straight away and find the right positions with and without the ball. I’m delighted with Terem’s goal, it’s been a long time since he scored. It’s a result that rewards everyone’s efforts, the starters as well as the substitutes – who made an important contribution in this difficult match, during which we struggled.”

He however, attributed their defensive record to the unity that exist in the team. “The first thing for the defence is the state of mind, the desire to go the extra mile, to win a challenge. We concede very few goals but when we do let one in, we know how to get back into the game. Today, I don’t know how many shots were turned away by our midfielders. Everyone’s doing their bit. The rest is work, organisation and attitude. We don’t work for the statistics, but to be concrete, match after match. We’re concentrating on the present and the future, not on what we’ve done in the past.”

*Umar scores Sociedad‘s wonder winner

Super Eagles striker Terem Moffi yesterday  grabbed his fourth  goal of the season in the French Ligue 1 as his solitary winner  against visiting Toulouse  at the Allianz Riviera ensured  Nice remain the only unbeaten team in Europe’s top five leagues.

In a match said to be of two halves as both sides struggled to impress in the first half, it was Terem who  hardly had a touch in the first stanza, that  brought the stadium alive  with his match-winning goal in the 54th  minute as he slotted  in Morgan Sanson’s pass across goal after some good work by Melvin Bard.

The  Nigeria international  came off the field in the 85th  minute with an impressive  match rating of 7.7.

“Moffi had no service in the first half and grew frustrated, dropping deeper and deeper in an attempt to have an influence on the game,” the Nigerian international was rated  accordingly.“However, this was a game of two halves for the Nigerian international, who got his goal early in the second half.

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“ He was in the right place at the right time to finish off Sanson’s pass across goal. That was his first goal since mid-September and his confidence immediately returned.

“His run and pass set up Lotomba, who almost doubled the lead, and he was dangerous drifting inside from the right,” noted getfootballnewsfrance.com.

Elsewhere, Sadiq Umar  scored his first goal of the season for Real Sociedad and it was worth the wait as it was a wonder strike that proved the winning goal against Sevilla.

The lanky striker dribbled past a marker and from almost 30 yards let fly an unstoppable screamer in the 22nd  minute.

Even his team captain could not hide his admiration for the wonder goal.

Sadiq Umar was replaced in the 75th  minute. His club are fourth on the La Liga table with 25 points from 14 matches.

Nigeria international striker Terem Moffi has been rewarded with a pivotal role in the French Ligue 1 Team of the Week after his brace helped OGC Nice to a flattering 3-2 away win against champions , Paris Saint Germain at the weekend.

In the review of weekend’s Ligue 1 matches , Nice’s famous win was aptly captured as the ‘Moffi Show’ after Les Parisiens suffered their first defeat of the season .

The 24-year-old forward did not only find the back of the net twice but he also provided the assist for Gaetan Laborde’s goal to render Kylian Mbappe’s classy brace ineffective.

He was rated 9 with the jurist saying inter alia: “Two goals and an assist for the Nigerian. His deep runs – consistently found by his teammates – proved to be PSG’s undoing, and his devastating accuracy made sure Nice made the most of their counter attacks.”

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With such high score, Moffi is the pick of the crop for the top striking position ahead of French superstar Mbappe for the lone striker position in a 3-2-4-1 formation in the Sofascore Best XI of the matchday five.

Moffi has so far scored three goals in five league appearances for Francesco Farioli’s side this season and it was the first time the forward will be included in Team of the Week this season.

Overall, the former Lorient forward now has 43 Ligue 1 goals in 108 games over the course of his four seasons in France.

Only two Nigerians in history have more goals in the French top flight than Moffi – Victor Ikpeba with 55 goals and John Utaka with 59.

OGC Nice head coach, Francesco Farioli has heaped praises on Super Eagles attacker, Terem Moffi who broke his season’s goal drought with a brace and another assist in their 3-2 away win at Paris Saint Germain on Friday night.

Farioli who described Moffi and his teammates performance as legendary, said he was not surprised the Nigerian hit two goals against PSG because he has been working hard and for the team in all the games he has played this season.

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“As I said at my first press conference, I have a lot of confidence in him, in his physical ability, his skills and his talent,” Farioli said. “I always get a lot of questions about whether he’s a player suited to the style we want to develop. I’ve always said to myself: I believe in Terem.

“He’s a very useful player for us. We’re seeing him now because he’s got goals and stats, but what he did tonight was the consequence of all the good performances he put in before.”

Nice who remain unbeaten in the ongoing season are second on the table with nine points and they head to league leaders, AS Monaco for a Friday night clash later this week.

Nice are one of four teams still unbeaten in the top-flight along with Rennes, Olympique de Marseille and Monaco this season.

Nice Coach Francesco Farioli has admitted that Terem Moffi  brings  a lot of attacking options  for  the French side with his unique style of play.

Moffi scored his first goal this season in Nice’s 2-0 win over Strasbourg at the weekend and the Italian tactician believes the Nigerian still has a lot in his sleeve to offer the team.

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 “He (Moffi) succeeded in better alternating between moments when he needed to drop back. The move leading to his goal was beautiful because he attacked the depth from a recovered ball. This week, you asked me if Moffi was the ideal forward for our style of play. As I mentioned, he’s a player who brings us a lot, with unique characteristics. Completing his skill set and understanding when to drop back and when to find space are things that take a bit of time,” Farioli said in a post-match press conference.

He added: “This evening, he played a good match because he generated 3 or 4 chances with his movement, including a very nice move in the second half, where he pivoted to set up Morgan with a chance on goal. He allows us to be unpredictable, to have different options. Tonight’s match is also a small step forward for him.”

He however, tasked Moffi to always utilize most of his chances in every match this season.

Super Eagles attacker, Terem Moffi showed Sao Tome and Principe what to expect this weekend in the 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifier in Uyo after he opened his season’s goal account in OGC Nice’s 2-0 home win over Strasbourg yesterday.

Moffi’s goal, the second goal of the game in the 75th  minute helped sealed the game and the Nigerian ended the game as the second best player in the game with a 8.3 rating behind his teammate, Jean-clair Odibo who received 8.5 rating.

Nice had recorded three drawn games before the visit of Strasbourg and when Youcef Atal opened the scoring for them in the 45th minute they needed another goal to kill off the resistance of Strasbourg who were breathing down their neck to get the equalizing goal.

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Their Nigerian import made the three points certain with a delightful finish 15 minutes from time to ensure they secured their first win of the season and also maintained their unbeaten start to the season.

Nice are seventh on the league table heading to the international break with six points from four games ahead of their September 16th  away game at Parc Des Prince Stadium in Paris against PSG.

Moffi who scored 18 league goals last season for both Lorient and Nice will now report to the Super Eagles camp in Uyo as from today with the sole aim of ensuring that Nigeria finish the 2023 AFCON Qualifiers with a flourish having booked the ticket to the biennial competition in the last round of matches.