Ajaccio stop the rot

Interim Ajaccio coach Christian Bracconi saw his side halt a run of six straight defeats with a 1-1 draw against Toulouse.

Interim Ajaccio coach Christian Bracconi did his chances of getting the job on a full-time basis no harm as he halted a run of six straight defeats with a 1-1 draw against Toulouse. The Corsican club sacked Fabrizio Ravanelli after last week's 3-1 defeat to fellow strugglers Valenciennes and Bracconi is expected to remain in charge until the winter break. His reign got off to the perfect start with Paul Lasne giving Ajaccio the lead after just seven minutes but Issiaga Sylla grabbed an equaliser for Toulouse just before half-time. Lasne's opener came after good work from Benjamin Andre on the left found him in space and he curled a left-footed effort past the helpless Ali Ahamada. Toulouse were almost level when Sylla found Serge Aurier, who beat Claude Dielna but could not get past goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who gathered the ball at the second attempt. The home side were having the better of it and Clement Chantome and Wissam Ben Yedder combined to find Aurier but his close-range shot was well saved by Ochoa. Three minutes before the break, Toulouse had the equaliser they deserved as Martin Braithwaite released Aurier down the right and his cross found Sylla, who was on hand to convert at the far post. Lasne should have put the Corsicans back ahead in the 48th minute but he put his header inches wide when getting on the end of a Cedric Hengbart cross. Despite that chance, Toulouse were still looking the more likely side to score and only some late heroics from Ochoa denied them all three points. First the Mexican goalkeeper stopped a volley from Ben Yedder with 15 minutes remaining before he was forced into two quickfire stops in the final 10 minutes. Etienne Didot found Adrien Regattin but Ochoa was equal to his volley and the stopper was equally impressive as he saved Regattin's 25-yard effort just a minute later.