Monaco 2-2 Toulouse: Monaco lead 2-0 at the break, again, and draw, again

Monaco have now done this twice to Toulouse. Edan Diop headed the leaders in front after 29 minutes and Matthis Abline volleyed in a second nine minutes later, and for a half the home side looked in complete control at the Stade Louis II. Then Toulouse did what they did the last time these two sides met: Casper Tengstedt converted a penalty three minutes into the second half, and Sion Oppong levelled with a volley of his own just after the hour. Monaco, unbeaten all season, stayed unbeaten — but for the second meeting in a row, they let two goals slip through their fingers against the same opponent.

Two goals in nine second-half minutes

• 29' — Edan Diop (Monaco), header
• 38' — Matthis Abline (Monaco), volley
• 48' — Casper Tengstedt (Toulouse), penalty
• 59' — Sion Oppong (Toulouse), volley

Monaco's start was everything a side top of the table should produce against one 13th: Diop's header and Abline's volley either side of the half-hour mark, both finishes of real quality, put the game beyond doubt on the balance of the first 45 minutes. Toulouse's reply was just as quick in its own way. Tengstedt's penalty, three minutes into the second half, halved the deficit almost immediately, and Oppong's volley on the hour completed the turnaround in points if not in the result — Toulouse came away with a draw rather than the win the comeback briefly threatened.

A repeat of April, almost goal for goal

This was not the first time Monaco have led Toulouse by two goals and failed to see it through. The two sides' last meeting, in April, finished 2-2 after Monaco surrendered an identical two-goal cushion — Jordan Teze and Lamine Camara scoring then, Jacen Russell-Rowe and a 90th-minute header from Emerson doing the damage for Toulouse. Five months and a new season later, the pattern repeated itself almost beat for beat: two goals inside the first 40 minutes, two conceded inside the first 15 minutes of the second half. Whatever changes Monaco make between now and the next meeting, finding a way to protect a two-goal lead against this particular opponent has to be on the list.

Still unbeaten, but a pattern worth watching

Monaco went into the round top of Ligue 1 on 13 points from five matches — four wins and a draw, conceding only three goals all season before kickoff — and they remain unbeaten through six games now. But dropping a two-goal interval lead inside nine minutes of the restart, against the same opponent that did it to them in April, is the kind of detail that shows up on a manager's notes even when the final record still reads positively.

A first win gave Toulouse momentum, and this draw adds to it

Toulouse arrived on the back of their first win of the season, 3-2 at home to Le Havre the previous weekend, after a run of one win, two draws and two losses left them 13th on 5 points. Pulling back two goals away at the league leaders, even without finishing the job, extends their unbeaten run to two matches and will count as a confidence boost under new head coach Jens Berthel Askou, for whom the Le Havre win had been his first since taking over.

What's next

Monaco went into this round 1st on 13 points, Toulouse 13th on 5 — this result adds a point each once the rest of matchday 6 is complete, extending Monaco's unbeaten record to six games and Toulouse's to two. For Monaco, protecting a two-goal lead for a full 90 minutes is the one thing still missing from an otherwise perfect start.