Montpellier, who aren't expected to mount too much of a title defense in Ligue 1 this season, got their season off to a shaky start with a 1-1 home draw against Toulouse. They took the lead early on, but had to play most of the game with 10 men after Jamelle Saihi picked up a red card late in the first half.
Souleymane Camara scored the opener for Montpellier in the 34th minute, assisted by a great lofted ball over the top of the defense by John Utaka. Camara surged through on goal and won a race with Ali Ahamada to the ball, poking it past him to put his team in front.
Salihi's red card came five minutes later on an absolutely horrible challenge. He stuck out his leg in an attempt to win a ball in the air and brought his boot so high that he put his studs into the forehead of Pantxi Sirieix. It was as clear of a red card as anyone's going to see this season, and it's only August.
Toulouse took control of the game after that but it took them until late in the second half to find an equalizer. Serge Aurier set it up with a great long diagonal ball towards the head of Ben Yedder, who nodded the ball into the back of the net at the far post. At that point, it looked like Toulouse might go on to find a winner as well, but the game turned quickly.
Just one minute after the equalizer, Toulouse's Adrien Regattin was shown a straight red card for a terrible lunging tackle on Daniel Congré that took them down to ten men. Montpellier went up a man when Aurier was sent off for a reckless tackle in the 84th minute, but they were unable to capitalize on their shocking 10-on-9 advantage and held on for a draw.
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