Toulouse (AFP)

Antoine Kombouaré's FC Nantes took an option on Thursday to stay in the top flight by winning the L1 / L2 jump-off on the field of a Toulouse team that was too feverish defensively (2-1).

The Canaries will have to finish the job on Sunday in their Beaujoire stadium, but the 18th in Ligue 1, like his leader Ludovic Blas, has generally shown his superiority over the 3rd in Ligue 2.

A year after leaving the elite by the back door, the TFC, despite good offensive intentions, sees its chances of an immediate recovery compromised after having already given in at the end of the regular season in its fight at the top of the L2 with Troyes and Clermont .

The fault mainly with his defense, put in difficulty on each acceleration in Nantes or almost in the first period.

Untenable, Blas took the opportunity to open the scoring in the 10th minute with a shot at the near post which surprised Toulouse goalkeeper Maxime Dupé, not necessarily flawless, as on the second goal of Randal Kolo Muani, opportunist after a ball pushed back in his feet.

Copiously dominated, the "Téfécé" had equalized in the meantime thanks to a powerful strike from Deiver Machado from outside the area.

With their two goals away from home, Nantes retreated after the break.

But L2's biggest budget failed to materialize its opportunities and Kombouaré's revenge, sacked by TFC last season after spending less than three months on the bench, seems on track.

The third coach of FC Nantes this season - after Christian Gourcuff and Raymond Domenech - had already experienced a dam, victorious, with Dijon against Lens in 2019 (1-1, 3-1).

Whatever the outcome, the page of the last nightmarish exercise seems to have turned to Toulouse.

His attacking game - best attack in L2 with 71 goals in 38 matches - won the hearts of the supporters, who were several hundred Thursday to welcome their players to the Stadium in a summer sweetness.

President Damien Comolli, man of confidence of the American investment fund Red Bird Capital, new owner of the club, even came to take a walkabout in the middle of smoke and firecrackers.

Not sure that his counterpart Waldemar Kita, taken in flu by a good part of the Nantes supporters, tries the same thing in front of Beaujoire before the return match.

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