Recap: Toulouse hold firm in Lorient
It was honors even at the Moustoir as FC Lorient and Toulouse FC battled to a one-all draw on Matchday 12 in Ligue 1 McDonald's. Catch up on all the action from Brittany with our match report.
Pagis strikes from the spot...
Looking to snap a five-match winless run and move out of the bottom three on an afternoon in which the club celebrated Breton culture, Lorient lined up a strong side, playing in a three-man defence which mirrored their opponents. As for Les Violets, they countered with an attack-minded eleven, even in the absence of Aron Dønnum. That bravura for Toulouse almost paid dividends on eleven minutes, as Dayann Methalie got forward and let fly with a rasping effort that was blocked by Montassar Talbi.
Midway through the second half, the hosts fashioned a fine chance through Darlin Yongwa who got forward and picked out Pablo Pagis, but the academy product struggled to get the ball out from under his feet and the chance went begging. Just before the interval, though, he would have his chance for revenge after a foul on Arsène Kouassi in the box. Calmly slotting the ball past Guillaume Restes, he scored his fourth goal of the season to give his side the lead at the break.
😍 L'ouverture du score sur penalty par Pablo Pagis !!!
⌚️ 45' I 1-0 I #FCLTFC pic.twitter.com/Vg6hcu3wZe— FC LORIENT 🐟 (@FCLorient) November 9, 2025
...and Sidibe responds!
Just past the hour, though, the scenario was reversed, as Arthur Avom was late on Méthalie and a penalty was awarded to the visitors. Djibril Sidibe stepped up and coolly buried to level the match, and as devoid of chances as the beginning of the match had been, the last twenty were rather more frantic. With six minutes to play, Restes pulled off an unbelievable save to deny Mohamed Bamba's effort from range before Jean-Victor Makengo hit the bar in added time. In the end, though, Lorient's scrapping would come to nothing and the match ended one-all.
With the result, Lorient remained in the relegation playoff spot ahead of the day's final matches, with ten points from twelve matches, while Toulouse sit tenth after what was their third draw in a row. After the break, Les Merlus will return to action with a Breton derby against FC Nantes, while Toulouse will host Angers as they look to push towards the European spots.
