Match report
Openda's late strike earns Lyon a 1-1 draw with Le Havre
Lyon were held to a 1-1 draw by Le Havre in a Ligue 1 Regular Season - 2 fixture at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, a result that leaves Paulo Fonseca's side unable to fully capitalise on their dominance of possession and chances created.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
The match was goalless at half-time, but Le Havre broke the deadlock in the 74th minute when Mbwana Samatta converted an assist from Fodé Doucouré to make it 0-1. Lyon responded with a late leveller, Ikoma-Loïs Openda scoring in the 87th minute off a Zachary Athekame assist to restore parity and secure a share of the points.
Lyon controlled the tempo throughout, holding 57% of possession and firing 15 shots to Le Havre's 12, with five on target compared to their opponents' four. Their 1.7 expected goals figure against Le Havre's 0.66 underlined how much of the match was played in the visitors' half, even though Le Havre's discipline problems, evidenced by 16 fouls and two yellow cards, could not prevent them from taking the lead.
Openda struck the equaliser in the 87th minute and finished with a match-high rating of 8.2 for Lyon.
Lyon's 1.7 expected goals figure, more than double Le Havre's 0.66, reflected their greater control of the chances created.
Lyon and Le Havre drew 1–1 (half-time 0–0).
Lyon met Le Havre in the Ligue 1 (Regular Season - 2). Kick-off was Saturday, 29 August 2026, 18:45 UTC at Groupama Stadium. Referee: Francois Letexier.
Key moments
- 74' Goal: Mbwana Samatta (assist: Fodé Doucouré) — 0–1 · Watch Mbwana Samatta's goal video (74')
- 87' Goal: Loïs Openda (assist: Zachary Athekame) — 1–1 · Watch Loïs Openda's goal video (87')
Starting line-ups
Lyon (4-2-3-1)
Le Havre (3-4-2-1)
- 77 Lionel Mpasi
- 5 Ahmed Touba
- 6 Junior Mwanga
- 15 Ayumu Seko
- 32 Timothée Pembélé
- 7 Amir Richardson
- 26 Simon Ebonog
- 33 Djibril Sow
- 33 D. Ouziad
- 17 Kaito Mizuta
- 14 Rassoul Ndiaye (c)
- 25 Mbwana Samatta
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Lyon 66%, the draw 23%, Le Havre 11%. It finished Lyon 1–1 Le Havre.
Lyon's rating gap decides it — Lyon are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of Lyon's 66%. The draw at 23% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Lyon at 66%?
Lyon sit 276 points higher on our strength rating — 1860 to 1584. Sides with a 200–300-point rating edge at home won 67.0% of 5,962 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 69–22–9.
Why only 66%?
Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Lyon's column. Across 10,761 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.0 — negative in every season since 2018.
Why is the draw only 23%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 21.4%. These teams' recent games average 3.0 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,900. Early-season fixtures add 2.0 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Last 6 between them: Lyon 3 wins, 2 draws, Le Havre 1 win. Most recently Le Havre 0–0 Lyon, 5 months ago. Fixture history hasn't carried forward once class is level: past leaders won just 43.1% of 5060 such games — no measurable edge, 0 points. Lyon on 2 days' rest, Le Havre on 6. Once class is accounted for, rest gaps stopped mattering — across 43,531 measured games no rest advantage repeated.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Lyon vs Le Havre final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Ligue 1 fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Lyon 1–1 Le Havre. Explore more on the Lyon and Le Havre team pages or the Ligue 1 page.