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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE international, Tino Kadewere, had a day to forget yesterday after he missed a glaring chance before seeing red as Olympique Lyon’s late collapse saw them crash to a 2-3 defeat away to Nice yesterday.

Kadewere, who was making his first French Ligue 1 start this season, was sent off for a two-footed challenge on former teammate Melvin Bard, with five minutes remaining.

The Lyon fans were infuriated more after Nice scored three goals, in the last 13 minutes, to overturn a two-goal deficit.

Kadewere, who had missed the early part of the season, only to claim his starting place for the first time in the Europa League victory over Sparta Prague during midweek, was again given the nod, ahead of Swiss winger, Xherdan Shaqiri.

Lyon still looked home and dry, with goals from their Cameroonian sniper Karl Toko Ekambi and Houssem Aouar, giving them a 2-0 lead, well into the last 10 minutes, of the game.

Toko Ekambi fired his third goal of the campaign, at the second time of asking, after Jerome Boateng had split the Nice defence with a fine through-ball out from the back, in the 35th minute.

Lyon should have pulled further clear on the hour.

Toko Ekambi caused havoc in the Nice box before teeing up Kadewere, but the Zimbabwe striker blazed high and wide, with the goal at his mercy.

His confidence, right now, is very low and this said everything about him, right now.

Aouar did find his range soon after, though, thumping an effort low beyond the goalkeeper from the edge of the box, for what looked like Lyon’s insurance goal.

However, Nice turned things around, thanks to their substitute, Youcef Atal.

The Algerian international came off the bench and had a hand in all three goals as Nice battled back from two goals down, to claim an unlikely victory, at the Allianz Riviera.

Atal gave Nice hope when he burst into the Lyon area, in the 81st minute, and fired an unstoppable shot high into the roof of the net, for his first goal since January 2021.

Kadewere was sent off a few minutes later and this appeared to unsettle the visitors, who went on to concede an 89th penalty, which was converted by another Algerian international, Andy Delort.

Evann Guessand completed a dramatic comeback for Nice with a goal in added time.

The Lyon fans vented their fury on the Zimbabwean forward, on their social media networks yesterday, as the former French champions dropped one place into seventh, on 16 points, from 11 matches.

Kadewere is still trying to discover his best form which turned him into a darling of many when he made his debut in the French Ligue 1 last season.

The forward has struggled with a series of injuries and had not played a big part since he had a corrective surgery on his hip, towards the end of last season.

Prior to yesterday’s game, Kadewere had only played 47 minutes, spread across three games.

He has been out recently, with a thigh injury he picked up when featuring for Zimbabwe, in the opening match of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa, last month.

But, in a bid to boost his confidence, Bosz has been giving him some minutes, recently.