Rodez blew the Ligue 1 relegation play-offs wide open by storming back from two goals down to edge RED Star FC 93 3-2 at the Stade de Paris, eliminating the hosts in a quarter-final thriller that swung decisively in the space of eight frenzied minutes inside the hour. The visitors, trailing 2-1 after 61 minutes, pounced twice in rapid succession to seize control of their survival destiny and leave the home faithful stunned on a Tuesday night in Saint-Ouen.
RED Star began with genuine menace. Inside 14 minutes, Kevin Cabral swept home after Damien Durand picked him out on the left flank, and the hosts looked capable of dictating terms with 63% possession. But the half slipped away without adding to their tally. Rodez, with less of the ball, struck back on 29 minutes when Ibrahima Baldé levelled after Tairyk Arconte released him down the flank. The visitors' discipline and shape belied their territorial disadvantage, and they weathered the storm before the interval on level terms.
RED Star retook the initiative after the restart. On 61 minutes, Josue Escartin diverted Cabral's cross past the keeper, and the hosts seemed to have one foot in the semi-finals. That illusion evaporated in brutal fashion. Sixty seconds later, Mathis Magnin glanced home from Nolan Galves's delivery to halve the deficit. Then, on 69 minutes, Wilitty Younoussa struck the killer blow, finishing decisively to complete a stunning turnaround. The momentum had shifted irrevocably, and despite Balthazar Pierret's yellow card on 64 minutes for a cynical foul, RED Star could not recover their composure.
The closing stages became increasingly fractious. Younoussa himself was booked on 76 for a foul, and RED Star emptied their bench with triple substitutions around that same mark—Théo Magnin, Saîf-Eddine Khaoui, and Pape Meissa Ba all entering the fray—but Rodez held firm. The tension boiled over in injury time when Giovanni Haag was shown a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct on 90+6, leaving RED Star with ten men as the final whistle approached. Bradley Danger and Hacene Benali had already been cautioned in the closing stages, underlining the deteriorating discipline on both sides.
Kevin Cabral was the standout performer despite the defeat, registering an 8.3 rating and scoring once whilst creating the second goal for Escartin before his 75th-minute withdrawal. He had 2 shots on target from three attempts and proved to be RED Star's most creative threat. Rodez's reply came from Magnin and Younoussa, both rated 7.7; Magnin's header clinched the turnaround, whilst Younoussa's composed finish sealed the comeback—arriving off the bench just after the hour and making an immediate impact.
The result ends RED Star's hopes of further Ligue 1 survival, whilst Rodez advance to the semi-finals of the relegation play-offs with momentum firmly in their favour. The hosts, despite dominating possession and carving out eight shots, were undone by clinical finishing and a catastrophic loss of concentration in the second half. For Rodez, resilience and opportunism proved decisive—they took their chances when they mattered most, and a defence that conceded 12 shots held its nerve when called upon.