Written by Matt Stevenson
Here is the xG from the Man C game. Whilst not the xG, AFCB had a goal disallowed in the first minute with Kroupi getting in front of the ball to be flagged offside from a good move involving Brooks and Tavernier. The first big chance in the game saw Haaland put Man C in front, his movement beating Diakite and Senesi left in no-man’s land trying to intercept a ball headed on by Cherki. Haaland was one-on-one and scored (rated 2 in 5). On 24 minutes, we were level, Brooks adjudged to have let go of Donnarumma in time before the City keeper failed to clear the ball and Adams volleyed home (1 in 4). In a 5-minute spell, Man C had three big chances. Haaland took the first, with Truffert deeper than the other defenders and playing Haaland on. He rounded Petrovic and put it in an empty net from an angle (1 in 3). O’Reilly then had a similar shot blocked on the line from a tight angle (1 in 4). Haaland then was through again, but Petrovic saved well from a dink (45%). The xG at the break was Man C 1.70, AFCB 0.28.
In the 47th minute, Haaland headed over (1 in 12) and then AFCB had 2 chances in 3 minutes, both falling to Kroupi (both 1 in 9) – the first hit into the side netting, the second was hit at Donnaruma. In the 59th minute, it was 3-1, with O’Reilly breaking through and scoring in the bottom right corner (1 in 11). Man C then closed the game off with not many chances for either team. Marmoush prodded one into the side netting (1 in 7), but that was the only presentable chance, although Reijnders blasted one straight at Petrovic (1 in 12). The final xG was Man C 2.72, AFCB 0.72 (I’m not sure why the individual chances only add up to 0.63), with Understat also showing a Man C dominance at 2.49 vs 0.90.
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Man of the Match against Manchester City
Adams
Adams
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Truffert
Truffert
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Senesi
Senesi
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Jimenez
Jimenez
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Someone else
Someone else
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The team had two changes from the N Forest game, with Brooks (7) and Diakite (18) replacing Kluivert and Milosavljevic. AFCB played an adventurous high line, Iraola stating that we were inviting crosses into a dangerous area if we were deeper, although the line was exposed three times in the first half. After the 3rd goal, there was an immediate triple change, with Cook (4), Evanilson (9) and Kluivert (19) replacing Jiminez (20), Kroupi (22) and Brooks (7). It was more or less like-for-like, although Tavernier moved to the right (and Kluivert to the central attacking midfielder role. Christie (10) replaced Scott (8) in the 73rd minute, and Gannon-Doak (11) replaced an injured Adams (12) in the 80th minute. Gannon-Doak’s high position showed that we weren’t in damage limitation mode and were trying to find a way back into the game. Whilst we didn’t gain any points, I doubt many teams will have as high an average position at the Etihad as AFCB did.
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Truffert had the most touches with 94. Semenyo had the most touches in the opposition half (44) and in the final third with 30.
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Senesi attempted most passes with 75. Truffert made most passes in the opposition’s half (31) and Semenyo in the final third with 14. We averaged 88% pass completion. Of the starting 11, Adams, Diakite, Petrovic and Tavernier had over 90% success. The high pass completion showed City allowed us the ball at the back.
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AFCB players tried to take on a man 9 times, being successful 4 times (Christie and Scott were both 1 from 1).
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AFCB attempted 20 crosses, being successful 1 time (from Semenyo).
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AFCB had 17 touches in the opposition’s penalty area, with Kroupi having 4. Man C had 43 touches in our penalty area.
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AFCB created 5 chances (none big). Man C created 13 chances, 4 big. Four players created 1 chance each.
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We had 8 attempts (1 big), noting that chances can be provided after saves, deflections or a defensive error and not created. We hit the target 5 times. Man C had 15 attempts, 4 big and hit the target 8 times. Our big chance fell to Adams, who scored.
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The Opta expected goals had Adams as most likely to score (0.36), followed by Kroupi (0.25). For assists, Senesi was top (0.18)
AFCB won 7 of 15 aerial duals. Truffert won 3 from 3, and Semenyo 2 from 2.
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AFCB won 10 of 23 tackles. Jiminez won 3 from 3, and Truffert won 3 from 4.
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Senesi made most defensive actions with 22. Four players made 1 interception each, Senesi made the most recoveries (10), most clearances (9) and most blocks (2).
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The foul count was AFCB 11, Man C 8. Semenyo made 3 fouls, with Brooks, Jiminez and Scott being fouled 2 times each.
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According to Opta, AFCB made no errors leading to a chance.