Monaco let 2-0 lead slip against Toulouse but stay top of Ligue 1

Monaco stayed top of Ligue 1 on Saturday night but let a two-goal lead slip at home to Toulouse, drawing 2-2 at the Stade Louis-II. Edan Diop and Matthis Abline had Filipe Luís's side 2-0 up at half-time before Casper Tengstedt's penalty and a Sion Oppong finish brought Toulouse level inside 15 minutes of the restart.

Abline's first for Monaco

Without the suspended Paris Brunner, Monaco controlled the first half. Mathys Detourbet, making his first Ligue 1 start, hit the crossbar in the 15th minute, and a Flávio Nazinho header was cleared off the line two minutes later. The opener came in the 29th minute, when Aleksandr Golovin stopped just short of the byline and crossed for Diop to head in from close range, the Russian's third assist of the season according to the club.

Nine minutes later, the former Nantes striker Abline doubled the lead with his first goal for the club. Set up by Diop after a high turnover, he lifted the ball, juggled it and volleyed in from around 20 metres. “I'm an instinctive player, I like trying slightly crazy things,” Abline said afterwards, adding that it was his son's birthday. “Unfortunately, I would rather not have scored and got the win.”

Fifteen minutes that cost two points

The game turned straight after the break. From a Toulouse corner, Nazinho held back Mark McKenzie and referee Ruddy Buquet awarded a penalty, which Tengstedt sent down the middle in the 48th minute. In the 59th, half-time substitute Oppong met Tengstedt's cross at the far post with a first-time finish to make it 2-2.

Monaco took 16 shots to Toulouse's nine, though both sides had four on target. Guillaume Restes saved a Golovin free kick in the 66th minute, and Ansu Fati, returning to competition as a 75th-minute substitute, saw a header caught by the Toulouse goalkeeper in the 83rd. Captain Denis Zakaria had gone off in the 51st minute; RMC Sport reported that he touched his left thigh as he left the pitch.

Filipe Luís said his side's pressing dropped after the second goal: “I felt our pressing was slightly less intense, so we certainly left too much space at that point.” He added: “It's a draw that leaves me with a slightly bitter taste, but I want to congratulate TFC, who are a really good team.” Abline put the second-half slump down to “a lack of concentration from the whole team”.

What it changes

Monaco remain unbeaten after six games, with four wins and two draws, and reclaimed first place on 14 points. Lille had moved above them earlier on Saturday by beating bottom side Le Havre 1-0 through Dilane Bakwa's fifth-minute goal, and now sit one point behind. Lyon, Paris FC and PSG are on 11. Rennes, on 10 with a game in hand, can draw level with Lille if they beat Auxerre on Sunday.

Toulouse, 13th on six points, have drawn all three of their away league games this season. Monaco open their Conference League league phase at CSKA Sofia on Thursday, the start of a run of eight matches in 29 days according to Nice-Matin, before visiting Lorient in Ligue 1 on Sunday. “We have to move on quickly because we have a chance to make up for it on Thursday,” Abline said.