Toulouse holds off Le Havre for 3-2 win as Tengstedt scores twice

It took Toulouse just three minutes to turn a scoreless draw into a two-goal cushion that looked decisive. In the end, the team had to sweat it out until stoppage time, but held on for a 3-2 win over Le Havre at the Stadium de Toulouse in a Ligue 1 match that was decided in the second half.

The first half was end to end without a payoff: shots from Jacen Russell-Rowe, Ilyas Azizi, Josh Maja and Amir Richardson either crashed off the frame of the goal or sailed wide. Neither goalkeeper was beaten, and the score was still 0-0 at the break.

Everything changed as soon as play resumed. In the 47th minute, Ahmed Touba conceded a penalty inside the box after fouling Thomas Jorgensen, and Casper Tengstedt made no mistake from the spot in the 48th minute to make it 1-0. Le Havre had no time to regroup: two minutes later, in the 50th minute, Tengstedt rose to head home a cross from Jorgensen to make it 2-0, a brace scored in just three minutes of game time.

Le Havre's response and Jorgensen's clincher

Le Havre did not give in. Josh Maja pulled one back in the 70th minute with a left-footed finish after a cross from Sota Nakamura, and the match opened up again. Toulouse answered quickly: in the 78th minute, Thomas Jorgensen, this time on the scoresheet himself, finished with his left foot after an assist from Cristian Casseres to make it 3-1, seemingly putting the game to bed.

But Le Havre pushed again in the closing stretch. Mbwana Samatta scored in the 87th minute with a close-range finish along the ground to make it 3-2 and set up a tense finish. With five minutes of stoppage time added, Toulouse withstood the visitors' late attempts, including a shot from Nakamura that was saved by the goalkeeper, to hold on for all three points.

The numbers behind the match

Toulouse controlled the ball slightly more, but Le Havre generated more attacking volume in total shots and shots on target, something that ultimately showed up in the visitors' two goals.

The estimated xG based on the match's shots came out nearly even: 2.644 for Toulouse to 2.675 for Le Havre, a figure that underscores just how tight the contest was despite the final score.

The preview published ahead of the match gave Toulouse a 49% chance of winning, against 30% for a draw and 21% for a Le Havre win, with expected goals of 1.41 for the home side and 0.84 for Le Havre, a combined total of 2.25. The final result exceeded that projection in goals scored (five in total), though the home side's favorite status did hold up on the scoreboard.

Where it leaves the standings

With this result, Toulouse moved to 5 points from 5 matches played, with a record of 1 win, 2 draws and 2 losses. Le Havre, meanwhile, stayed on 2 points after 5 outings, with no wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. The gap between the two sides in the standings is 3 points, though at this stage of the season the table still says little about each squad's true level.

Toulouse walks away with a win it badly needed, built on goals from Tengstedt and Jorgensen, while Le Havre continues to search for its first three-point haul despite showing fight and creating danger right to the end.