Ligue 2: carried away by madness, Rodez dominates Ajaccio and will play the play-offs at home against Paris FC

En trompant Michel dès la 6e minute, Hountondji a inscrit son 14e but de la saison et surtout fait le break pour Rodez. MAXPPP – Cedric MERAVILLES

Easy winner of Ajaccio 2-0, Friday May 17, Rodez will play the Ligue 2 play-offs, Tuesday (8:30 p.m.) in his stadium against Paris FC.

The inhabitants of Rodez know it: in this city, every journey on foot is worth it. Because everything goes up. For several years, having moved from CFA2 to Ligue 2 between 2016 and 2019, its football team has been following the trajectory. And no one knows if at the top of this peak is not Ligue 1. The dream of Rodez Aveyron football is underway, even more so since Friday evening and this 2-0 success against AC Ajaccio on vacation. Combined with Paris FC's draw in Bastia (1-1) at the same time, it became synonymous with 4th place and the second division play-off.

League 2 ranking

The season is crazy, historic, but its conclusion will have to wait. Rodez Aveyron football will play at least one additional match, starting Tuesday evening (8 p.m. and 30 p.m.). And it will be against Paris FC, in this Paul-Lignon not yet satisfied, an extension of a year of intoxication in Aveyron rather than at the Charléty stadium as long envisaged.

A deal done in six minutes

Friday, the Ruthenian venue, still under construction, experienced its 13th sellout in 19 receptions. And she didn’t even wait to vibrate to the sound of "we're in the play-off". In six minutes, Didier Santini's men had swelled the hearts of their 3,000 supporters and folded the matter: a corner headed by Haag (3rd), an opening from Raux-Yao for Hountondji behind a Strata who went fishing (6th) and that was it. Nothing could reach this band of blood and gold set out to conquer the impossible. Not even the rain, the cold and especially not these Corsicans kept and disembarked in flip-flops.

✨ 𝙃𝙄𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙌𝙐𝙀 🤩

On l'a fait ! Le RAF disputera le premier tour de Play-off ce mardi 21/05, face au @ParisFC à Paul Lignon 😍

Une immense 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲́ pour tout le club, la ville et le département 🙌

𝗘𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗰'𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝘁 ❤️💛 pic.twitter.com/ATVCkTgGoU

— Rodez Aveyron Football (@OfficielRAF) May 17, 2024

The partners of the former Angevin Thomas Mangani or the ex-Montpellier Clément Vidal could have benefited from errors in concentration by the Aveyron defense. But neither Mambo's ill-adjusted header towards his goalkeeper (24th), nor Ibayi's forgetting behind the back (39th) ultimately disturbed the local evening.

"Aligot sausage"

It will have been by around twenty Corsican fans firstly very handsome players. Their songs, "Rodez en Ligue 1" and "aligot sausage" , made Paul-Lignon stand up before the start of scuffles in the corners. A shadow on a night of total celebration.

A year ago, on June 2, 2023, this crazy race could have stopped in Bordeaux. An evening of chaos, a gesture from an idiot coming down from the stand to attack Buades had sealed a victory on the green carpet after the end of the championship. And a hold acquired at the end.

From this journey to the edge of the void was born a trajectory that ended up exhausting superlatives. A fortnight ago, the setback against Annecy (1-3) here had given rise to doubts. The draw at Saint-Étienne (1-1) had dismissed them with this Ruthenian way of not calculating anything, not even the pressure of a Cauldron. Since Friday, the RAF has felt none. The future belongs to him. And from Tuesday, everything will be permitted.