By D. Crossan
Toulouse captain Max-Alain Gradel netted two second-half penalties as his side scored a massive 2-1 win at second-placed LOSC.
LOSC 1-2 Toulouse FC 
THE MATCH
LOSC boss Christophe Galtier had challenged his players to win to reach 37 points for the first half of the season, to make it “exceptional” in his words. The northern club finish 2018 in second place in the table, some performance considering they narrowly avoided relegation last term. 34 points is only one fewer than LOSC’s title winners managed from 19 games in 2010-2011.
After an indifferent start, LOSC got on top and Nicolas Pépé, the joint-top scorer in the division, had already headed over (17′) before his side took the lead. Thiago Maia’s ball over the top was expertly controlled by Rafael Leao and the 19-year-old Portuguese’s angled shot hit the side-netting despite Baptiste Reyney getting fingers to it (18′). Leao had also scored the opening goal in LOSC’s 3-2 win at Nîmes the previous Sunday.
Jonathan Ikoné latched onto a loose pass (23′) and sped past Stéphane Mbia before being smothered by Reynet in a one-on-one and then Jonathan Bamba went close with a rasping left-footer (35′).
Toulouse’s only attempt on target of the first half was a header by recalled defender Christopher Jullien from a Max-Alain Gradel corner (43′). Early in the second half TFC were level as Gradel (50′) sent Mike Maignan the wrong way from the spot after Edgar Ié, starting as Jose Fonte was suspended following his Nîmes red card, fouled Corentin Jean.
Reynet dealt well with a low drive from LOSC skipper Thiago Mendes (59′) and then TFC were awarded their second penalty after a VAR review as Yves Dabila was deemed to have fouled Gradel. The TFC attacker scored despite penalty saving specialist Maignan getting a hand to the ball (64′).
Leao elected to square the ball when he could have shot (68′) and LOSC failed to create much after falling behind. The closest they came was when Ié headed over the top deep into added time (90+8′). The three points lifted TFC five clear of the bottom three.
THE PLAYER: Max-Alain Gradel
Pre-match Alain Casanova spoke of Toulouse’s Gradel dependence and once again the club from the Pink city were grateful to their captain. Two successful penalties in the space of 15 minutes showed the 30-year-old’s confidence as he moved onto eight goals for the season out of 17 scored by Toulouse. The Ivorian may yet challenge the PB of 17 he managed under Galtier for ASSE in 2014-2015.
THE STAT: 2
This was only Toulouse’s second win in 14 league outings, the other being a 1-0 success at Reims at the start of the month.
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