What should have been a routine win slipped through AS Monaco’s fingers. Two goals ahead inside 20 minutes and barely troubled by Toulouse FC, the Principality outfit were rocked by a late surge from the hosts, as they ultimately conceded an equaliser in stoppage time to draw 2-2.
The Match
To begin the match, Sébastien Pocognoli stuck with his 3‑4‑2‑1 setup, restoring Lamine Camara to midfield alongside Denis Zakaria, who pushed one line higher. Christian Mawissa dropped into the left side of the back three, while Simon Adingra resumed his duties at left wing-back.
The contest kicked off in a great atmosphere at the Stadium de Toulouse, where nearly 350 Monaco supporters took their seats in the away section. They weren’t disappointed early doors, for after an initial effort by Maghnes Akliouche was tipped over the bar by Guillaume Restes, Monaco made the difference from the ensuing corner.
Arriving unmarked at the far post, Akliouche’s deflected cross fell for Simon Adingra, who cushioned it perfectly into the path of Jordan Teze. The Dutchman climbed highest to nod home to open the scoring and claim his first Ligue 1 goal of the season (6).
The Red and Whites kept pushing, and following two near misses from the Ivorian winger Adingra, Lamine Camara produced a moment of brilliance. Completely free 20 metres out after Akliouche pinpointed him between the lines, he bent a sublime right‑footed strike into the top corner for (18) – his first goal in the top flight, and a beauty at that. Toulouse, rattled, tried to respond, but Lukáš Hrádecký stood firm against Jacen Russell-Rowe, Charlie Cresswell and Aron Dønnum.
Monaco almost stretched their lead further courtesy of Ansu Fati, whose clever attempt shaved the woodwork (27). The rest of the half passed quietly before the referee whistled for the interval. After the break, the tempo remained low, and Toulouse continued to lack bite, as Dønnum’s 50th‑minute shot posed no real danger.
Toulouse finally found a way through when Dayann Methalie’s delivery reached Russell‑Rowe, the striker finishing from close range to halve the deficit. Monaco then retreated a little deeper, though Akliouche did threaten with a free‑kick on 67 minutes. Toulouse, however, grew more dangerous from set pieces, and Cresswell came closest, but his header was beaten away on the line by Hrádecký (74).
Both managers turned to their benches as the encounter entered its final stretch. Zakaria wasn’t far off from restoring Monaco’s cushion with a spectacular acrobatic volley, forcing Restes into a brilliant full‑stretch save (89). It proved costly, as moments later Cresswell’s header dropped kindly for substitute Emersonn to sweep home the leveller (90). A cruel blow for Monaco, who were denied at the death and departed with only a point.
Pocognoli’s debrief
“Disappointment! I don’t want to say anger, because that would imply we’re losing control, but I’m being quite objective about this performance,” he said when asked about the match. “The positive thing is that we started well this time, with 30 minutes of very high quality, the best we’ve had in quite a while, I think. We stuck to the game plan, focusing on exploiting their weaknesses, so that was quite positive. Then we gradually stopped playing football and became much less intense in what had been our strength at the start.
“So the second half was disappointing because we continued in the same vein, whereas the message at half-time was to pick up right where we left off in the first half. We didn’t do that; on the contrary, we made a lot of technical errors and played too much backwards, which meant our creative players were less involved. We started to struggle and had to rely on our substitutes to try and solidify our defence, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to do it, and that’s quite disappointing!”
Metz awaits
Next up for Monaco is a trip to FC Metz to take on the strugglers, where they’ll need a strong reply to maintain their hopes of a top‑five finish.
