A thigh, a raised hand, and a substitution
Guillaume Restes did not finish Thursday night. Toulouse were losing to Lille when their goalkeeper felt something in his thigh, told the staff straight away and came off before anything worse happened.
Jens Berthel Askou gave the short version afterwards. “We think it’s a small muscle niggle. He reported it pretty quickly. We decided not to take any risks and get him off,” the TFC head coach said, then added: “We’re not too worried for now. We’ll test him over the next few days.” Scans will settle it.
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Mathys Niflore’s Ligue 1 debut lasted about a minute before it went wrong
The change gave Mathys Niflore his first taste of the top flight. Nineteen years old, academy product, and Ayase Ueda beat him almost immediately for Lille’s goal.
His manager did not leave him hanging. “He was unlucky with the goal,” Berthel Askou said, and left it there. Niflore spent last season on loan at Dunkerque in Ligue 2 and had suitors circling in the closing hours of the window. Toulouse decided to keep him as the backup.
A decision that looks a lot smarter today
“We’re very happy he can stay with us this season,” the coach went on, and the reasoning is practical. Niflore plays with the ball at his feet the way Restes does, so the side barely has to rewire itself when the first choice is unavailable.
This matters beyond one evening. Restes came through the academy, has France youth caps and has been a fixture in the Toulouse side for three seasons. Yann Gboho left for Coventry days ago. A long absence for the goalkeeper is not something this squad is built to absorb. The tests will say how worried anyone should be.
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