Elye Wahi scored a brace to help Nice beat Saint-Etienne 4-1 and secure their Ligue 1 survival.

Nice concluded a turbulent season with a dazzling performance at the Allianz Riviera. In the crucial second leg of the play-off, Claude Puel's team overcame immense pressure to defeat Saint-Etienne 4-1, after the two teams drew 0-0 in the first leg.

The home team's perseverance and the turning point from Jonathan Clauss.

Entering the match with the mindset of needing to win, Nice quickly pushed forward to seek an early advantage. Suffocating pressure was created from the very first minutes. In the 21st minute, luck turned against the home team when Elye Wahi's close-range shot hit the post after an effort by Mohamed-Ali Cho. Despite controlling the game, Nice also faced sharp counter-attacks from Saint-Etienne, but the excellent performance of goalkeeper Gautier Larsonneur kept the first half goalless.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 61st minute of the second half. In a chaotic situation in front of the visitors' goal, Jonathan Clauss positioned himself intelligently to unleash a thunderous shot, opening the scoring and completely relieving the psychological pressure on the Nice players.

Dramatic VAR moments and Elye Wahi's finishing touch.

The match became more dramatic in the 79th minute when VAR intervened, determining that Antoine Mendy had handled the ball in the penalty area. From the penalty spot, Zuriko Davitashvili calmly equalized 1-1 for Saint-Etienne, rekindling hope for the visitors. However, the joy of the Saint-Etienne fans lasted only two minutes. Substitute Kail Boudache immediately scored with a powerful left-footed shot, restoring Nice's lead.

As Saint-Etienne threw everything forward in search of an equalizer, they fell into their opponent's counter-attack trap. In the 87th minute, Elye Wahi capitalized on a through ball from Tom Louchet to make it 3-1. Then, in the second minute of added time, the same striker completed his brace with a skillful lob, sealing a glorious 4-1 victory.

Dominating in the statistics.

Nice's victory was not only reflected in the scoreline but also in their superior technical statistics. The home team unleashed 20 shots with an expected goals (xG) of 3.54. In contrast, Saint-Etienne, despite their best efforts, only achieved an xG of 2.16 and hit the crossbar once in the final minutes of the match.

This result helped Nice end their seven-match winless streak at home and, more importantly, successfully defend their position in Ligue 1. This is a memorable milestone, marking the 25th consecutive season that the Riviera team has participated in the top tier of French football.