French Ligue 1 report: Caen keep up top form

Caen continued their fine recent form with a 2-0 victory over Toulouse at the Stade Michel d'Ornano on Saturday.

Sloan Provat gave Caen a 17th-minute lead and Julien Feret doubled their advantage when he converted a 72nd-minute penalty to earn his side all three points.

The victory was Caen's fourth successive in Ligue 1 and the three-point haul saw them move above Toulouse into 14th place in the standings.

Toulouse, who have won only one of their last eight league matches, are now just one place and two points clear of the relegation zone.

Both Caen and Toulouse came into this encounter on the back of 1-0 league victories last weekend, against St Etienne and Reims respectively, but it was the hosts who dominated the early exchanges.

The match was barely 60 seconds old when Feret found Privat in space on the edge of the penalty area, but the Lionceaux striker's first-time shot was saved by Toulouse goalkeeper Ali Ahamada.

TFC responded a minute later through striker Aleksandar Pesic and home stopper Remy Vercoutre was forced to concede a corner in keeping out the Serbia Under-21 star's stinging low volley.

Feret and Privat combined again to fashion a 16th-minute chance for Caen and the latter gave the hosts the lead a minute later when his near-post header from a probing Cedric Kante cross proved to good for Ahamada.

It was all going swimmingly for Caen but they were dealt a blow in the 37th minute when Privat was forced from the field with an injury and was replaced by Emiliano Sala.

The second half was initially devoid of clear-cut chances and it was Toulouse who fashioned their first effort of note after the restart.

It fell to Pesic, who could only shoot straight at Vercoutre after fine approach play from visiting right-back Marcel Tisserand, while four minutes later Herve Bazile nearly made it 2-0 but his near-post header flew inches wide.

Toulouse's lack of composure would cost them dearly midway through the second half when Feret, who scored Caen's winner against at St Etienne last Sunday, did make it 2-0 from the penalty spot after Sala was fouled by Steeve Yago.

Caen's second goal knocked the wind out of Toulouse's sails and their miserable evening was compounded when substitute Adrien Regattin fired a regulation chance wide a minute before the final whistle.