Charleroi beat Ostende Leuven 3:1 in the first match of the Jupiler Pro League regular season on Sunday. The hosts took control early with a penalty goal before the visitors were reduced to ten men. Ostende had managed to equalise before Traore's dismissal, but the red card changed the game.
P. Guiagon converted from the spot in the twenty-fourth minute to give Charleroi the lead. The visitors responded well and O. Gil pulled one back nine minutes later, catching the home side off guard. Then came the turning point: A. K. Traore received his second yellow in the thirtieth minute and the game changed shape.
By then Charleroi were playing with a man advantage and they made sure to press forward. C. Keita thought he had restored the two-goal cushion in the forty-seventh minute, but the goal was cancelled for offside. The home side waited patiently and K. Van Den Kerkhof finally got over the line in the fifty-ninth minute.
F. Mbemba sealed the result late on, scoring in the seventy-ninth minute to make it three goals to one. Ostende had made several changes in an attempt to find a way back, bringing on H. Teklab and P. Pflucke among others. But with only ten men and a growing deficit, the visitors simply could not create enough.
The statistics tell their own story. Charleroi dominated possession at 0.58 and registered ten shots on target compared to the visitors' three. They created three big chances while Ostende managed only two. The visitors made more clearances and interceptions, but that defensive work could not compensate for their numerical disadvantage.
The result leaves Charleroi in fourth place with twelve points from five matches. Ostende remain rooted to the bottom of the table with zero points from five defeats. The hosts have shown they can compete at this level, while the visitors face a difficult start to the campaign.