Monaco took on Toulouse on Friday night with the chance to maintain their 100% Ligue 1 record at the Stade Louis II.
A point would move the Monte Carlo side to the top of the table having won their opening two matches, while at least a draw for Les Pitchouns would lift them out of the bottom three ahead of the weekend's action.
Despite dominating the contest, Monaco couldn't break down a solid Toulouse outfit as both sides were forced to settle for the draw.
Read how the match unfolded in our live commentary below.
Good evening, and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage from Stade Louis II where hosts Monaco take on Toulouse in Ligue 1 action.
What a way to start your weekend, with the notorious Monaco. Huge spenders in the summer on the likes of Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho, and they currently sit joint top of the Ligue 1 table with a 100% record from their opening two games of the season.
Claudio Ranieri's side boast big scalps as well. Seeing off Bordeaux away from home in their opening match before dismantling 2012 French champions Montpellier HSC 4-1 last weekend. They are in hot form, and will look to lead France outright by picking up a point tonight. Mind you, I think they would be disappointed to earn anything other than three points this evening.
Toulouse have had a rather different start to the year. Alain Casanova's men endured a 3-0 loss to Valenciennes on the opening weekend before being held to a 1-1 draw against 10-man Bordeaux last time out. They currently sit in the bottom three and, although we are only two games into the season, they will be desperate to try to climb out of the danger zone tonight.
One man who will be under the spotlight tonight is Monaco striker Emmanuel Riviere. He currently tops the scoring charts in Ligue 1 with four goals in two games, including a stunning hattrick against Montpellier. He takes to the field with a point to prove this evening, having left former club Toulouse in January for just over £3m. The 23-year-old is capped for France at every youth level and has eight goals in 16 career games for Monaco. Not a bad record, keep an eye out.
One man to watch for the away side tonight is Clement Chantome, who joined Toulouse on loan this week from Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain. The 25-year-old is expected to make his debut for Les Pitchouns tonight.
Right, without further ado, let's get the starting lineups for both sides.
Right, without further ado, let's get the starting lineups for both sides.
MONACO XI: Subasic, Fabinho, Kurzawa, Carvalho, Abidal, Toulalan, Obbadi, Carrasco, Ocampos, Riviere, Falcao
So the big news for Monaco is that former Porto pair James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho are both out of action. Rodriguez does make the bench as he continues to recover from a hip injury, while Moutinho isn't in the squad due to a thigh injury.
Emmanuel Riviere starts against his former club and is partnered up top by Radamel Falcao. Ricardo Carvalho, Eric Abidal and Jeremy Toulalan have all been given the nod by Ranieri, but the former Chelsea boss has opted to leave out Argentina international goalkeeper Sergio Romero, who joined the club on loan from Sampdoria earlier this week. 4-4-2 it is for the hosts.
And now for the away team.
TOULOUSE XI: Ahamada, Abdennour, Aurier, Ninkov, Spajic, Sylla, Didot, Trejo, Ben Yedder, Braithwaite, Chantome
So Casanova hands a full debut to Clement Chantome who will take his place as one of the defensive midfielders in front of a back three.
Wissam Ben Yedder and Martin Braithwaite start in attack for Les Pitchouns, while Serge Aurier, Uros Spajic and Aymen Abdennour make up the back three.
The players have made their way out onto the field at the Stade Louis II, Monaco are wearing their usual red and white split shirts with white shorts and socks, while Toulouse are sporting their purple and white striped shirts with purple shorts and socks.
KICK OFF! Toulouse get the game underway.
Quiet start to this match, a couple of fouls have been blown up for but Monaco have started more on the offensive.
Early chance for Monaco as Riviere nearly sneaks in on goal but Abdennour in on hand to make the tackle.
Not too much action to report from an empty Stade Louis II stadium. Still goalless in this behind-closed-doors match.
This really has been a slow start, still nothing to report yet.
CHANCE! First real opportunity of the match and it falls to Monaco and top scorer Riviere. He is played through down the left by Falcao as Monaco hit Toulouse on the break. Riviere makes his way into the penalty area before looking up and hitting the ball left footed towards the far post. His shot beats the keeper but is dragged wide of the target.
It's very stop-start at the moment at Stade Louis II. The referee is very whistle happy and there are a lot of crowds going in.
CHANCE! Again it's for Monaco and again it's for Riviere. This time he manages to get his shot on target, but it is saved by Ahamada.
CHANCE! We're seeing the game get a lot more lively now as Layvin Kurzawa has an effort on goal but it sails over the bar.
CHANCE! Yet another opportunity for Monaco and this time it's for Lucas Ocampos but again it is off target. This is better from Monaco, who are dominating.
YELLOW CARD Oscar Trejo goes into the book for Toulouse after a late challenge. First booking of the match.
CHANCE! This is the closest chance so far as Carrasco hits a lethal strike from the edge of the box that looks certain to find the back of the net, but instead flies narrowly over the crossbar. Surely it's only a matter of time before Monaco go in front?
CHANCE! As I say that, Toulouse nearly take a shock lead through Trejo, who smashes one from the left side of the box and forces Subasic into making a very good save and pushing the ball out for a corner.
The game is certainly improving after the slow start. Monaco have been all over Toulouse since the off and have had several great chances to go in front. However, Toulouse showed just then that they can still be potent on the counter-attack. You feel that Monaco are going to have to take one of these chances before long.
Monaco have been awarded a free kick on the right of the box after Falcao was fouled. Great chance here.
The ball is fired in by the Colombian but is overhit and Toulouse can clear the danger.
CHANCE! Monaco have another chance as Fabinho gets in on the act. He goes down the right of the area before hitting a low shot across goal, but it is well stopped by Ahamada.
CHANCE! Guess what? You got it, Monaco have had another shot on goal. Ocampos turns on the edge of the box and storms forward down the left. He gets into the box and hits a left-footed effort towards the far bottom corner, but again it goes just wide of the post.
The way things are going, you would think that Claudio Ranieri will have strong words with his team at half time. They need to take their chances or risk allowing Toulouse to go in front.
Similarly, Casanova won't be much happier with his side's performance, but will be relieved to get into the break on level terms.
If you were wondering why the Stade Louis II is empty, it's because Monaco are serving a stadium ban for crowd trouble against Nantes last season.
HALF TIME: Monaco 0-0 Toulouse
So a disappointing first half for Monaco as far as the scoreline goes. They have dominated the match and peppered the Toulouse goal with opportunity. However, with only three shots out of 11 on target, Ranieri will be demanding that his players are more successful in front of goal.
Let's bring you some half-time statistics.
Match statistics:
Monaco:
Shots 11
On target 3
Possession 55%
Corners 1
Fouls 7
Monaco:
Shots 11
On target 3
Possession 55%
Corners 1
Fouls 7
Toulouse:
Shots 3
On target 0
Possession 45%
Corners 1
Fouls 10
The two sides are back out now. Doesn't look as if any changes have been made.
Monaco will have kick off and shoot from left to right in this second half.
KICK OFF! Monaco resume the game.
Quiet start, no pun intended due to the empty stadium, from both sides. Monaco with most of the early possession so far.
Ocampos goes down the right and flashes a long cross into the box looking for Falcao, but it's too high for the forward to reach.
Ocampos is brought down by Abdennour on the right touchline, and Monaco have a free kick with the view of whipping a ball into the box.
They have men in the box do the hosts, but Toulouse are able to clear away.
YELLOW CARD Emmanuel Riviere goes into the book for a late challenge as he was chasing back towards his own box. That's why strikers aren't great defender. The free kick is cleared by Monaco.
Trejo, who is already on a yellow card, brings down Ocampos right on the edge of the box. It's soft, but a really dangerous position. Two yards outside the box to the right of the D for Monaco.
CHANCE! Kurzawa takes it instead of Falcao and tries to bend it towards the near top corner, but his effort has too much flight on it and sails over the bar.
Ferreira has been guilty of a poor cross not once but twice in the last few minutes. Both times he had men in the box, both times from the right and both times he cleared everyone and gave away a goal kick. Poor from the Belgian winger.
Still waiting for the first real chance of the second half. Monaco have had all the play but it's been a dull opening to the period.
MONACO CHANGE James Rodriguez is summoned from the bench for the hosts and replaces Ferreira.
Toulouse are going to make a change shortly also.
MONACO CHANGE A bit of a surprise this one as Ranieri yanks off Riviere. No complaints from the forward though as he is replaced by Valere Germain.
Monaco need to be better in the final third. For all the millions they've spent during this current transfer window, their final cutting edge has been poor. Look as if they are missing the creative spark of Joao Moutinho.
Toulouse still haven't had a clear chance in this second half. Monaco looking solid at the back with Abidal and Carvalho as their centre-back pairing.
The possession stats are only slightly in Monaco's favour but they have had all the territory. Toulouse have a lot of players back defending at the moment.
TOULOUSE CHANGE The visitors make their first change of the match as Pavle Ninkov is swapped for Steeve Yago.
Just a quarter of an hour to go and it's still goalless. This would be a massive point for Toulouse and Alain Casanova.
YELLOW CARD Aymen Abdennour is shown a yellow for a late challenge from behind.
Falcao takes the free kick from just outside the box from the left of the D and goes for the near corner, but his shot is easily caught by Ahamada.
James Rodriguez has a go with a long-range free kick. He drives it low centrally with his left foot but it is well blocked by Didot. Toulouse have been solid in this second half.
Abdennour has been immense for Toulouse tonight. Absolutely solid.
Champions win gritty affairs like this. Can Monaco find a late winner?
OFF THE BAR! They very nearly did and it was Jeremy Toulalan of all people with a rocket shot. He smashes it from 30 yards out to the left, and leaves Ahamada with no chance. However, it comes crashing off the bar and Toulouse can scramble it clear. That would have been worthy of winning any match.
90 minutes are up, not sure how much added time we will have. Looks as if Toulouse are going to pick up a hard-earned point.
Three minutes of stoppage time will be played. Toulouse nearly found a way in just then by Subasic was out quickly to clear the trouble.
YELLOW CARD Etienne Didot goes into the book for the away side.
FULL TIME: Monaco 0-0 Toulouse
Well there you have it. Monaco move to the top of the Ligue 1 table by a point but drop their first points of the season. A win for several top teams over the weekend including Lyon, Marseille and Saint-Etienne will see them move clear having played the same amount of games.
Toulouse move out of the bottom three and up to 14th with that draw and are just a point from safety having played three games. They didn't deserve to lose tonight though and defended very resiliently.
Let's bring you some post-match statistics then.
Match statistics:
Monaco:
Shots 20
On target 5
Possession 60%
Corners 4
Fouls 17
Toulouse:
Shots 3
On target 0
Possession 40%
Corners 1
Fouls 24
That's all from me tonight, but do join me for more Ligue 1 action tomorrow and on Sunday.
Hope you enjoyed the match, goodnight.
Written by
Matt Cotton
Matt Cotton
