Toulouse take seventeen shots, Lyon take three on target, and Lyon take the points

Seventeen shots. Two on target. That is the Toulouse evening in two numbers, and it is why a game they spent most of controlling territorially finished 0-2.

Lyon did not need much. Nartey scored at 68', Malick Fofana added the second at 85', and a bench that changed the game did the rest.

Even possession, uneven finishing

Possession split 48-52 in Lyon's favour, so this was not a smash-and-grab against a siege. It was two sides taking turns, one of which could finish.

Toulouse's eleven shots that missed the target entirely are the story of the night. Lyon put three of eleven on target and scored from two of them.

Match facts

• 68' — Nartey (Lyon)
• 85' — Malick Fofana (Lyon)

Toulouse's shot count stayed the same, the results didn't

The 17 shots against Lyon were not a one-off. Toulouse drew 2-2 at Brest in matchday 2, going ahead through Jacen Russell-Rowe and then 2-1 up through Christ Tapé, only for Ludovic Ajorque to level it in the fifth minute of stoppage time — the two shots Toulouse put on target that day both went in. In matchday 3 they lost 0-1 at home to Lille despite 24 shots, ten of them on target and five big chances created; Ayase Ueda's 73rd-minute finish was enough. Matchday 4 brought a different kind of game: two goals down inside 39 minutes away at Lorient, Toulouse fought back through Casper Tengstedt and Thomas Jørgensen to salvage a 2-2 draw, their first comeback of the season. Matchday 5 finally delivered a win — Tengstedt scored twice in two second-half minutes and Jørgensen added a third as Toulouse held off a late Le Havre rally to win 3-2 at home, their first three points of the campaign. Five matchdays in, Toulouse have scored seven goals and conceded nine, with one win, two draws and two losses.

Lyon needed longer each time, then didn't need long at all

Lyon's following two matchdays were tighter than the opener suggested they would be. Mbwana Samatta put Le Havre ahead at 74' in matchday 2, and Lyon needed Loïs Openda's 87th-minute equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw at the Groupama Stadium, despite out-shooting Le Havre 17-4. Matchday 3 came easier: Felix Bacher and Zachary Athekame scored either side of the half-hour mark, Cameron Archer pulled one back for already-winless Auxerre, and Ernest Nuamah made it 3-1. Matchday 4 was quieter still — a goalless draw away at Paris FC in which Lyon managed only two shots but kept a clean sheet, their second away shutout of the season after the one they had already kept at Toulouse. Matchday 5 swung the other way: Ernest Nuamah scored twice inside the first half-hour, Zachary Athekame added a third just after the restart and Corentin Tolisso completed a 4-0 win over a previously-unbeaten Rennes side, Lyon's most complete performance of the campaign so far. Five matchdays in, Lyon remain unbeaten — three wins and two draws — for ten goals scored and only two conceded.

Where that leaves both sides

The gap that opened at the Stadium in August has only grown. Toulouse sit 13th on 5 points from five games — one win, two draws, two losses, seven goals scored against nine conceded — outside any European or relegation zone but only a point clear of Troyes, who occupy the relegation play-off place in 16th. Lyon sit 2nd on 11 points, three wins and two draws without a defeat, ten scored against just two conceded, level with Paris FC and inside Ligue 1's direct Champions League qualification places behind only league leaders Monaco. On the pitch that night, Toulouse had the better of the shot count. Five matchdays later in the table, none of that has counted for much.