Dijon vs 31.08.26 18:452 – 3Full Time
Saint Etienne — Ligue 2: stats, lineups & analysis
Match report
Saint Etienne edge five-goal thriller against Dijon
Saint Etienne came from behind to beat Dijon 3-2 in Ligue 2 matchday four, a result that stretched their unbeaten start while leaving the home side rooted near the bottom of the table. The visitors led early but were pegged back before goals in the second half decided the contest.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Thierno Ballo opened the scoring in the 21st minute, finishing off an assist from Irvin Cardona, only for Samy Olivier Chouchane to level for Dijon eight minutes before the interval with help from Paul Bellon. Chouchane struck again on 55 minutes to put the hosts 2-1 ahead, but the advantage lasted just nine minutes.
Ballo restored parity for Saint Etienne in the 64th minute, completing his second goal of the match, before Augustine Boakye put the visitors ahead for good in the 80th minute, assisted by Zuriko Davitashvili. Dijon, who had won only once in their previous five outings, could not find a way back and slipped to a fourth match without maximum points at home this season.
Chouchane scored twice for Dijon and earned the highest rating on the pitch at 9.0, though his contribution ultimately could not prevent defeat.
Dijon edged possession at 52% to Saint Etienne's 48%, yet it was the visitors who converted their moments more decisively.
Saint Etienne won 3–2 away against Dijon (half-time 1–1).
Dijon met Saint Etienne in the Ligue 2 (Regular Season - 4). Kick-off was Monday, 31 August 2026, 18:45 UTC at Stade Gaston Gerard. Referee: Benoît Millot.
Team pages: Dijon · Saint Etienne · Ligue 2
Key moments
- 21' Goal: Thierno Ballo (assist: Irvin Cardona) — 0–1 · Watch Thierno Ballo's goal video (21')
- 39' Goal: Samy Chouchane (assist: Paul Bellon) — 1–1 · Watch Samy Chouchane's goal video (39')
- 55' Goal: Samy Chouchane — 2–1 · Watch Samy Chouchane's goal video (55')
- 64' Goal: Thierno Ballo — 2–2 · Watch Thierno Ballo's goal video (64')
- 80' Goal: Augustine Boakye (assist: Zuriko Davitashvili) — 2–3 · Watch Augustine Boakye's goal video (80')
Starting line-ups
Dijon (4-1-3-2)
- 16 Paul Delecroix
- 31 Moussa Faty
- 5 Quentin Bernard (c)
- 23 Lenny Lacroix
- 93 Ismail Bouleghcha
- 8 Paul Bellon
- 18 B. Ndezi
- 17 Adel Lembezat
- 21 Samy Chouchane
- 9 T. Dong
- 11 Júlio Tavares
Saint Etienne (4-2-3-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Dijon 31%, the draw 29%, Saint Etienne 40%. It finished Dijon 2–3 Saint Etienne.
Saint Etienne's rating edge outweighs Dijon's home ground — Saint Etienne are the stronger side on our strength rating, and the early-season home fade on top gives Saint Etienne the lean. The draw at 29% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Saint Etienne at 40%?
Saint Etienne sit 193 points higher on our strength rating — 1453 to 1646. Sides with a 100–200-point rating edge on the road won 40.1% of 13,125 such games. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Dijon's column. Across 10,864 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. The 300 most similar past games finished 28–27–45.
Why only 40%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 40% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 29% and Dijon at 31%.
Why the draw at 29%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 27.2%. These teams' recent games average 2.8 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,940. Early-season fixtures add 2.0 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Dijon have gained 60 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: climbing sides won 41.4% of 12,281 such games vs 40.7% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. Saint Etienne's last five: D-L-W-W-W — clearly the hotter side on recent results. Between equals, recent form told us almost nothing: the home side won 44.7% of 2200 games when clearly hotter and 42.8% of 4015 when clearly colder.
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 Dijon vs Saint Etienne 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 Thierno Ballo's goal against Dijon (21').
- Watch Samy Chouchane's goal against Saint Etienne (39').
- Watch Samy Chouchane's goal against Saint Etienne (55').
- Watch Thierno Ballo's goal against Dijon (64').
- Watch Augustine Boakye's goal against Dijon (80').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Dijon 2–3 Saint Etienne. Explore more on the Dijon and Saint Etienne team pages or the Ligue 2 page.