Winless in their four games to start the season, both sides were hoping to use today’s match as a momentum switch going into the international break. The first half display left much to be desired, however, with a lack of quality on show illustrating why neither had been victorious so far.
It took until just after the quarter-hour for the first opening when Rayan Fofana was picked out in the box, but his weak effort was denied by the feet of Guillaume Restes.
At the other end, Casper Tengstedt should have done better midway through the first period when an early cross into the box found the Danish striker, but his header flew wide.
Josh Maja blew a pair of opportunities before the break, the best of which saw a scramble in the box result in the ball ending up at his feet, but with the goal at his mercy, he chose power over placement and hit it straight into the chest of Restes.
Toulouse were presented with a great opportunity to break the deadlock just four minutes into the second half when Thomas Jørgensen was bundled over in the box by Ahmed Touba. Tengstedt took responsibility from 12 yards and buried his spot kick into the bottom-right corner, netting in consecutive league games in the process.
The Danish striker was on the scoresheet again two minutes later after brilliantly towering over the Le Havre defence to head home from Jørgensen’s ball into the danger area.
After struggling to make an impact after the restart, Le Havre grew into the contest and halved the deficit with a little under 20 minutes remaining as Maja finally hit the back of the net, tapping in from Sōta Nakamura’s exquisite low cross into the box.
Any hopes of a comeback lasted just eight minutes, however, as Les Violets restored their two-goal advantage. After having a hand in the first two goals, Jørgensen finally got his name on the scoresheet, racing onto the ball down the right, and still with work to do, cutting into the box and firing home past Gauthier Gallon.
Sion Oppong then thought he had netted his first goal since joining Toulouse and put the game to bed, but he was denied by the offside flag. Grateful for that reprieve, Le Havre pulled a goal back late on as Toulouse failed to deal with another cross into their box.
Ally Samatta headed at Restes and saw his initial effort saved, but followed up on the rebound to bundle home, setting up a grandstand finish. The home side were under pressure, but ultimately held on to see out the victory and claim their first win in three meetings, a result that leaves Le Havre in the relegation zone at this early stage.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Thomas Jørgensen (Toulouse)