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Recap: Toulouse thump Nice for third win in four

Shaking off a heavy loss to leaders RC Lens a fortnight ago, Toulouse FC won for the third time in four Ligue 1 McDonald's matches, a result that leaves them provisionally in the European places.
E. DEVIN
Published on 01/17/2026 at 20:00
3-minute read
Santiago Hidalgo and Yann Gboho combined for Toulouse's opener

Shaking off a heavy loss to leaders RC Lens a fortnight ago, Toulouse FC won for the third time in four Ligue 1 McDonald's matches, a result that leaves them provisionally in the European places. Catch up on all the action from the Stade with our match recap.

Forward-looking TFC start the strongest

With Frank Magri back from AFCON, the hosts came into this match with an eye on the European places, as they were missing only the suspended Emersonn and wingback Dylann Méthalie, with loan signing Pape Demba Diop being handed a first start. As for Nice, while new signing Elye Wahi would lead the line, across AFCON, injuries and personal leave, Les Aiglons remained a very depleted side for this trip to the southwest of France. That said, an encouraging draw in their last Ligue 1 McDonald's match against Strasbourg did give the visitors a measure of hope.

That hope wouldn't last long, though, as Santiago Hidalgo, starting in place of the suspended Brazilian, lashed a square ball from Aron Dønnum into the roof of the net with just seven minutes on the clock to give his side the lead, the Argentine netting for the second time in three matches. Nice would respond through Tom Louchet, who narrowly missed finding the top corner (11'), but the match would drop in intensity from there before a flurry of pressure from the hosts in the last five minutes. Juma Bah would clear the ball off the line (40') before Magri fizzed an effort over the bar (43'), but it was only a momentary reprieve as Magri would double the lead just before the interval (45')

Nice respond, but Les Violets are too strong

Back from the break, Nice showed plenty of initiative, as Wahi's pressure on Djibril Sidibe quickly told, with the forward pouncing on a loose pass to pull a goal back (49').  Just six minutes later, though, Hidalgo nipped in front of Melvin Bard to steal the ball and fire past Maxime Dupé at the near post to make it 3-1. Toulouse were hardly done, though, as first Cristián Casseres (74') and then youngster Julián Vignolo (81') found the net to seal a resounding 5-1 home victory.  

For Vignolo, it was his first goal for the club since joining in the summer, and wrapped up a wholly impressive win for the hosts, who moved to a provisional seventh ahead of next week's trip to Brest. As for Nice, they'll host Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League on Thursday, before a trip to Nantes in the league next Sunday.

The stat: 29

Toulouse have scored more goals in Ligue 1 McDonald's this season than any other side outside the top four and have their best total through 18 rounds since 1997/8.

Read more:

>> Lens beat Auxerre, retake top spot 

>> Strasbourg vs Metz: All you need to know about the Derby de l'Est

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