Les Canaris will be clear favourites to maintain their top-flight status in Sunday's winner-takes-all showdown with Toulouse at the Stade de la Beaujoire after they dominated their opponents in the first leg of the relegation play-off in Toulouse on Thursday.

Kolo Muani: 'Back on track'

Star man Ludovic Blas opened their account early with a superb near-post finish (10') and although Le Téfécé quickly hit back through Colombian defender Deiver Machado's equally impressive shot from range (19'), in-form Nantes forward Randal Kolo Muani was on hand to tap home a potentially decisive second away goal after Kalifa Coulibaly's effort had been parried (23').

"We quickly got back on track [after losing to Montpellier on the final day of the season]," said France U21 international striker Kolo Muani. "We have to play on Sunday with the same desire as we did tonight. We had to show that we belong in Ligue 1 and that we want to stay there. If we continue to play like we did the last few games, I think that will do the trick and the club will stay in Ligue 1."

Vigilance

However, the younger was keen to keep hubris out of the mix and is adamant that his side won't be taking Toulouse lightly as they play for all the marbles on Sunday night.

"There is still the second game on Sunday before we can say the job is done," said the man who racked up nine goals and four assists in 37 appearances for Nantes in season 2020-21. "I didn't feel any difference in quality between Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 in this high-stakes game. We had noticed their weaknesses at the back and we had worked on that."