NICE, France (Reuters) – Nice lost ground in the battle for second place in Ligue 1 when they were overwhelmed in a 3-0 defeat against visiting Racing Strasbourg on Sunday.
Ludovic Ajorque, Habib Diallo and Adrien Thomasson found the back of the net in a convincing collective display to hand Nice their third loss in their last five outings.
The result left the Azurean side in fourth place on 27 points from 17 games, 15 behind leaders Paris St Germain and four adrift of second-placed Stade Rennais.
Strasbourg moved up to sixth on 26 points, meaning nine teams are within five points with third-placed Olympique de Marseille, with 29 points, leading the charge behind Rennes.
At Nice’s Allianz Riviera, it was a one-sided affair and Ajorque beat Melvin Bard to collect Ibrahima Sissoko’s through ball to open the scoring from inside the box in the 21st minute with his ninth league goal of the season.
The visitors continued to threaten and, five minutes before the break, Diallo appeared to be brought down in the box by Jean-Clair Todibo but the penalty claim was denied after a VAR review.
Diallo doubled the advantage in the 82nd with a backheel from close range and Thomasson wrapped it up in style by flicking the ball past Walter Benitez after being set up by Diallo.
(Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Alex Richardson)
