Misfiring Monaco slip up in Ligue 1 race with loss to Toulouse
Monaco coach Adi Hutter said his side was "simply not competitive enough" after they missed the chance to climb back up to second place in Ligue 1 as they lost 2-1 at home to Toulouse on Sunday.
Toulouse opened the scoring in the 41st minute when skipper Vincent Sierro caught Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Kohn out of position on a free-kick.
Monaco levelled just after the restart through Maghnes Akliouche but failed to capitalise on a host of other chances.
Centre-forward Folarin Balogun was the main culprit. The American fluffed an early one-on-one with goalkeeper Guillaume Restes and then squandered another golden opportunity from close range after being set up by Thilo Kehrer.
Toulouse made Monaco pay in the 70th minute when a corner fell for defender Logan Costa to fire in.
"We've had too many ups and downs this season," said Hutter whose team have taken just one point from their last four home matches.
"We took 23 shots," Hutter continued. "But it's not acceptable to concede goals like that.
"You can analyse things and talk about tactics but we're simply not competitive enough."
Defeat meant Monaco stayed fourth on 38 points, level with Lille, who beat Le Havre 3-0 on Saturday, and one point behind Nice who slipped to a 1-0 loss at Lyon on Friday.
Paris Saint-Germain, who beat Nantes 2-0 on Saturday, are clear leaders on 53 points, 14 ahead of Nice.
"I think we're capable of being at the top of the table," said Hutter.
"But if we keep making mistakes like that, it's going to get harder and harder. Taking one point from 12 at home is not good.
"We were in a good position before the game. We missed a big chance to go second. It's very frustrating."
Brest, on 37 points, can take over second spot if they beat Marseille in Sunday's late game.
Rennes, meanwhile, made it six straight wins with a 3-1 victory over bottom-placed Clermont, thanks to a brace from in-form midfielder Martin Terrier and one from Warmed Omari.
It would have been more had Clermont goalie Mory Diaw not kept out Ludovic Blas's 38th minute penalty.
Rennes are seventh with 34 points, in touching distance of the European places, and tucked in between Reims and Lens who shared a 1-1 draw.
Clermont remain rooted to the bottom with just 16 points, one fewer than Metz who lost 3-0 at Montpellier.
Lorient climbed out of the bottom three with a 3-1 win over Strasbourg with new signing Mohamed Bamba scoring twice.
P.Mitchell--EWJ
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