Henry, Vieira reunion ends in stalemate on Cote d’Azur

The presence of the two greats in the respective dugouts made an international event out of what is usually little more than a hotly contested local derby on the Cote d’Azur.

It was a spicy encounter, with Allan Saint-Maximin putting Nice ahead before youngster Benoit Badiashile levelled for the hosts in the second half.

Nice played half the game with 10 men but also saw Saint-Maximin miss a great chance to win all three points when he had a late penalty saved.

Members of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning side and later colleagues for six years in Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal team, Henry and Vieira embraced warmly before kick-off at the Stade Louis II.

They did so again at full-time, both allowing themselves a smile even though the stalemate will likely not satisfy either man.

Henry’s Monaco are scrapping to pull away from the relegation zone in Ligue 1, and they remain 19th in the table, three points adrift of outright safety. They have still not won at home this season.

Vieira’s Nice, meanwhile, have lost just once in 10 league matches but might regret dropping two points in their quest to qualify for Europe.

– Fabregas absent –

The 41-year-old Henry has now won just twice in 11 league games since being appointed to his first coaching job in October, although performances have improved since the turn of the year.

He will also wonder how this game might have ended had he been able to call on the services of new signing Cesc Fabregas.

The Spaniard — another former protege of Wenger’s at Arsenal — joined from Chelsea last week and made his debut at Marseille on Sunday.

Unveiled to the media earlier on Wednesday, he was nevertheless ineligible for this match because it was originally supposed to be played in December before being called off due to security concerns linked to the ‘yellow vest’ protest movement in France.

Fabregas instead watched from the stands, and he saw Saint-Maximin, a former Monaco player, put Nice in front on the half-hour mark, running through to score after some sloppy play from the home side.

– Penalty miss –

That has characterised Monaco’s season, but they were helped when Nice were reduced to 10 men in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Ihsan Sacko raked his studs down the calf of Benjamin Henrichs, and was shown a straight red card after the referee reviewed the images.

The hosts then drew level early in the second half, Badiashile’s header just crossing the line despite the best efforts of Nice ‘keeper Walter Benitez.

There was controversy as referee Benoit Bastien used VAR again to give 10-man Nice a penalty in the 76th minute, despite the footage suggesting that Youcef Atal had dived.

Henry will feel that justice was done, though, as Saint-Maximin’s kick was saved by Diego Benaglio.

The home side could still have won it late on, but Radamel Falcao’s shot came back off the post, and Monaco are now just a point clear of bottom side Guingamp, who defeated Rennes 2-1.

Champions League hopefuls Lyon needed a brilliant late free-kick by Nabil Fekir to grab a point in a 2-2 draw at Toulouse, while Nimes beat Nantes 1-0.