Ramsey scores for Nice to secure draw with Toulouse

TOULOUSE, France (AP) — Wales international Aaron Ramsey came off the bench to score the equalizer for Nice in a 1-1 draw with promoted Toulouse in the French league on Sunday.

Signed on a free transfer from Juventus in the offseason, Ramsey replaced Calvin Stengs in the 76th minute and made an instant impact for his new club by pouncing on a pass from Billal Brahimi to score with a first-time effort in the 78th.

“I didn’t expect it to be this hot,” Ramsey told Amazon Prime video after the game. “I’m excited to play in this league. As you can see today, it was very technical, athletic, very fast. So I’m happy to be here and hopefully I can play my part this season.”

Ramsey is the first Welshman to play in the French league since Brynley Griffith in 1959 according to the Ligue 1 official website.

A contender for European spots, Nice finished fifth last season.

In his French league debut, Thijs Dallinga opened the scoring by flicking home a cross from Toulouse captain Branco Van den Boomen in the 20th.

Toulouse signed Dallinga for a reported fee of 2.5 million euros ($2.55 million) this summer. Last season, the Dutch striker scored 36 goals to help second-division Excelsior Rotterdam gain promotion.

Dallinga also beat the offside trap to be clean through on goal in the 18th but had his shot deflected onto the post by Nice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka.

Stengs was the only bright spot for Nice in the first half. The Dutch winger rattled the bar in the 32nd and made a cross for Amine Gouiri, whose tame header didn’t trouble goalkeeper Maxime Dupe in the 36th.

Toulouse started tiring in the second half as Dupe denied Khephren Thuram in the 61st.

Elsewhere, Florian Sotoca led Lens to a 3-2 win over Brest by notching a hat trick with a low strike in the 27th, a header off a corner in the 62nd and a lob in the 65th. The Lens forward also missed a penalty in the 33rd.

Jonathan David scored twice and added an assist as Lille routed promoted Auxerre 4-1. The Canada striker set up Benjamin Andre for the opening goal in the first minute, then netted with a curling shot in the third and a low strike in the 39th to make it 3-0.

Lille won the league in 2021 but finished mid-table last season.

Teji Savanier helped Montpellier edge Troyes 3-2 by guiding the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box in the 81st.

Nantes kept a clean sheet in a goalless draw with Angers a week after an embarrassing 4-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions Trophy, the traditional curtain-raiser between the French league champion and the French Cup winner.

The opening round ends later Sunday with Marseille vs. Reims and Rennes vs. Lorient.

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