Match report
Ten-man Laval collapse as Rodez score three at Stade Paul-Lignon
Rodez opened their Ligue 2 campaign with a 3-1 win over Laval at Stade Paul-Lignon, a scoreline shaped heavily by Sidi Bane's dismissal after just 19 minutes. Despite the numerical advantage, the home side could not find a breakthrough before the interval, with the match goalless at half-time.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Corentin Roubiou finally broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute, but Laval, playing with ten men, levelled through Ethan Clavreul in the 68th minute after a set-up from Esteban Mouton. The response from a reduced Laval side briefly threatened an upset before Rodez reasserted control in the closing stages.
Ibrahima Baldé restored the lead in the 89th minute, finishing off a Jordan Mendes assist, and Octave Joly added a fourth-minute stoppage-time goal set up by Kenny Nagera to complete the scoring. Rodez dominated territory and chances throughout, reflecting their numerical edge for over 70 minutes of the contest.
Baldé scored the decisive second goal for Rodez in the 89th minute and finished with a rating of 7.6, the highest of any player on the pitch.
Rodez outshot Laval 19 to 4 across the match, underlining their dominance once Laval were reduced to ten men.
Rodez beat Laval 3–1 (half-time 0–0).
Rodez met Laval in the Ligue 2 (Regular Season - 1). Kick-off was Saturday, 8 August 2026, 18:45 UTC at Stade Paul-Lignon. Referee: Eddy Rosier.
Key moments
- 19' Red card: Sidi Bane
- 52' Goal: Corentin Roubiou — 1–0 · Watch Corentin Roubiou's goal video (52')
- 68' Goal: Ethan Clavreul (assist: Esteban Mouton) — 1–1 · Watch Ethan Clavreul's goal video (68')
- 89' Goal: Ibrahima Baldé (assist: Jordan Mendes) — 2–1 · Watch Ibrahima Baldé's goal video (89')
- 90' Goal: Octave Joly (assist: Kenny Nagera) — 3–1 · Watch Octave Joly's goal video (90')
Starting line-ups
Rodez (5-3-2)
Laval (4-3-3)
- 30 Mamadou Samassa
- 22 Jules Gaudin
- 3 William Bianda (c)
- 24 Sidi Bane
- 29 M. Sidibe
- 6 Sam Sanna
- 8 Teddy Bouriaud
- 14 Cyril Mandouki
- 31 M. Houdayer
- 11 Trevis Dago
- 10 Malik Sellouki
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Rodez 52%, the draw 28%, Laval 20%. It finished Rodez 3–1 Laval.
Rodez's rating edge, but the draw is in play — Rodez are the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of Rodez's 52%. The draw at 28% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Rodez at 52%?
Rodez sit 107 points higher on our strength rating — 1613 to 1507. Sides with a 100–200-point rating edge at home won 57.2% of 12,653 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 53–31–16.
Why only 52%?
Laval hold 6 more possession points (46 to 40 in recent games) across a 107-point rating gap. Control now carries a receipt beyond near-equals too: sides with this control edge at a 75–150-point rating gap won 42.6% of 8,562 such games where the class table expected 41.3%. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Rodez's column. Across 10,505 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 second, ahead of the Laval win?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 24.1%. These teams' recent games average 2.5 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 26.2% of 27,507. Early-season fixtures add 2.0 points to the draw. The goals environment adds 1.2 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Rodez have gained 68 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: climbing sides won 41.5% of 12,114 such games vs 40.7% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. Rodez are unbeaten in their last 12 league games at home. Rolling home runs look imposing but sides on a 6+ run won 56.3% of 13,479 games vs 54.6% class-expected — and in our walked test the rating already carried it. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
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 Rodez vs Laval 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 2 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 Corentin Roubiou's goal against Laval (52').
- Watch Ethan Clavreul's goal against Rodez (68').
- Watch Ibrahima Baldé's goal against Laval (89').
- Watch Octave Joly's goal against Laval (90').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Rodez 3–1 Laval. Explore more on the Rodez and Laval team pages or the Ligue 2 page.