Toulouse vs Valenciennes. French Ligue 1.
Stadium MunicipalAttendance20,183.
Sunday 18 May 2014 00:14, UK
Toulouse ended the season in the top half of the table after beating Valenciennes 3-1 thanks to a Wissam Ben Yedder hat-trick.
Toulouse ended the Ligue 1 season in the top half of the table after beating relegated Valenciennes 3-1 thanks to a Wissam Ben Yedder hat-trick. Despite securing their continued presence in the top flight some weeks ago, Le Tefece were sliding towards a lowly finish having failed to win any of their last eight games. But Ben Yedder scored all three goals to register his second hat-trick of the campaign while Ligue 2 bound Valenciennes signed off with a goal from Anthony Le Tallec. It took Toulouse 30 minutes to open the scoring through Ben Yedder. Martin Braithwaite did most of the leg work, dribbling around Lindsay Rose before picking out his unmarked team-mate for an easy finish from six yards. Toulouse won a penalty just before half-time as Rose fouled Braithwaite. VA goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau dived the the right but Ben Yedder had beaten him with a spot-kick fired right down the middle. Valenciennes almost notched in the 51st minute, Marco Da Silva clattering the crossbar with a shot from 20 yards. The northerners would halve the deficit three minutes from time to give travelling fans some reason to be cheerful. Le Tallec had Arthur Masuaku to thank for providing the killer cross that allowed him to head home through a throng of Toulouse defenders. If VA were plotting a late comeback, their plans were foiled by Ben Yedder, who claimed the match ball on the stroke of full-time when controlling Dusan Veskovac's cross and slamming the ball into the net. With 16 goals for the season, Ben Yedder finished behind only Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the Ligue 1 scoring charts, although he must share second place with Marseille's Andre-Pierre Gignac.