Toulouse deny Montpellier

A second-half equaliser from Toulouse midfielder Abel Aguilar earned his side a 1-1 draw with Montpellier.

A second-half equaliser from Toulouse midfielder Abel Aguilar denied Montpellier a much-needed victory in their first outing since the resignation of coach Jean Fernandez. Fernandez stepped down on Thursday after seeing his side take just two points from their previous seven games, and he is set to be replaced by former Montpellier boss Rolland Courbis on Monday. Courbis will take over a side still stuck in the bottom four of Ligue 1 following Sunday's 1-1 draw, which saw Montpellier go ahead through Souleymane Camara's 19th-minute strike only for Toulouse to claim a point when Aguilar - whose mistake led to Camara's goal - levelled 18 minutes from time. Toulouse had spurned a great chance to draw level before that but Eden Ben Basat saw his 51st-minute penalty saved by Geoffrey Jourdren. Montpellier also had a player sent off in that incident, Daniel Congre handed his marching orders, but Toulouse only had a man advantage for 17 minutes before they lost defender Jonathan Zebina to a controversial red card as both teams finished with 10 aside. With Courbis waiting in the wings, Montpellier were under the guidance of assistant coach Pascal Baills and his side took the lead following some poor defending from the hosts. Aguilar was guilty of giving away possession before Remy Cabella picked out Camara perfectly inside the area and he slotted his shot through Ali Ahamada's legs. The visitors continued to press and only a last-ditch Aymen Abdennour tackle prevented a clear shot on goal for Camara after Cabella had picked him once again. The hosts' biggest chance of the opening 45 minutes came just before the break but Eden Ben Basat's lob ended up just the wrong side of Geoffrey Jourdren's crossbar. Toulouse were given a great opportunity to level the scores just after the restart when Congre conceded a penalty and also saw red for a professional foul. Ben Basat took responsibility from 12 yards but the Tunisian's effort was tame and Jourdren saved. With a man advantage, the hosts looked to press Montpellier back and the lively Ben Basat volleyed over the crossbar from a good position. However, with just over 20 minutes to play referee Benoit Bastien levelled things up when he sent off Zebina in controversial circumstances. The former Brest centre-back picked up the ball following some confusion with a free-kick and was shown a yellow card before being given his marching orders after remonstrating with the official. Despite that, though, the hosts managed to level just minutes later when Adrien Regattin's free-kick found an unmarked Aguilar and he smashed the ball beyond Jourdren from two yards to earn his side a draw.