The match started on a sour note for Nice, who were dealt a blow early on when captain Youssouf Ndayishimiye had to leave the pitch due to injury. Stand-in captain Rosario was tasked with leading the team, but his performance in defense was nothing short of a nightmare.
Rangers took advantage of the hosts' defensive disarray, opening the scoring in the 24th minute. A quick counter-attack saw Cerny break free and slot past the Nice goalkeeper to make it 1-0. Just 10 minutes later, Rangers doubled their lead in spectacular fashion. Diomande did well to control and direct a long ball into the path of Cerny, who made no mistake in finding the back of the net for his second goal of the evening.
Nice's defensive frailties continued to be exposed after the break. In the 47th minute, Igamane pounced on another error, firing home to extend Rangers' lead to 3-0. He completed his brace in the 69th minute with another clinical strike, further compounding the misery for the home side.
Rangers dominated the match throughout, ending the game with a significantly higher expected goals (xG) of 2.56 compared to Nice’s 1.25. The visitors could have added more to their tally, missing a few clear-cut chances that would have put the result beyond doubt even earlier.
In the dying moments of the match, Nice managed to get a consolation goal, courtesy of a brilliant free-kick from Bouanani. Despite the late strike, the result was already sealed, leaving Nice with much to reflect on after a disappointing evening.
With the win, Rangers jump to eighth in the table and will look ahead to their upcoming fixture against Tottenham Hotspur. For Nice, the loss sends them plummeting to second from bottom, and they will need to regroup quickly ahead of their next match against Union Saint-Gilloise.
It was a dominant performance from Rangers, who capitalized on every defensive mistake from Nice to claim all three points in a commanding 4-1 win.
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