MATCH REPORT | Toulouse find goalscoring touch to increase pressure on Strasbourg’s poor start to season

Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Round 10, 06/11/2026

After two weekends where Toulouse FC had failed to find the back of the net, they were back amongst the goals as they defeated a sorry RC Strasbourg Alsace side 3-1.

The fog rolled in at the Stadium de Toulouse, blanketing the match in a permanent sleepy haze. After a tepid first half, defences were caught napping, and the goals finally began to flow. 

Fog of war

This season’s results have not always reflected performances for Toulouse, and that has been no clearer than at home, where they entered this match having failed to score in three of their four matches at the Stadium de Toulouse. For Strasbourg, a run of four defeats in a row was ended last weekend with an emphatic 5-1 win over AJ Auxerre, and they hoped to bring some of their rediscovered form into this match. 

It was a fairly measured start for two evenly matched teams. The game quickly became a battle for possession in midfield, with physicality at the forefront of either side’s arsenal. There was some nice passing play from both teams, but it was often far too slow and did not result in many openings in the early exchanges. White fog that had been hanging over Toulouse over the past few days settled on the pitch, reducing visibility. In truth, no one was missing much. 

The game would come alive for Toulouse a couple of minutes before the end of the first half, when Santiago Hidalgo lashed a shot towards the bottom corner, but Filip Jörgensen was able to parry it away. In stoppage time, the Argentine would find the back of the net for the first time this season with a powerful effort off a scrappy bit of play. There was a lengthy VAR check as the officials attempted to work out if Hidalgo had handled the ball in the area, but the goal would stand. 

It’s alive… but for how long?

Toulouse would double their lead in the 56th minute from a Cristian Cásseres Jr. corner. US international Mark McKenzie would leap high and uncontested to head home the set-piece and give Toulouse what felt like a commanding lead. Strasbourg, up until this point, had offered very little in the way of threat to their hosts. Their victory last weekend was increasingly feeling like a gasp of breath in the struggles of a drowning swimmer. 

It would be a stars and stripes affair with Giovanni Reyna giving hope to Strasbourg. The US star gave Guillaume Restes the eyes, sending the keeper leaping in the wrong direction as he slotted his shot home. However, Toulouse would restore the two-goal lead off another set-piece, with Thomas Jørgensen smashing his shot on the bounce past his (almost) namesake. 

Strasbourg would be unable to lift their game out of first gear as they limped towards their sixth defeat of the season. With the international break next, there would surely be questions mounting over the future of head coach Hugo Oliveira. One was left to wonder if the pause in the domestic game would act like the headman’s axe.

GFFN | Nick Hartland