Ten men from the third minute, yet Aarhus had the better chances

Aarhus lost a player in the third minute and still matched Egnatia Rrogozhinë on quality of chances, despite having only a third of the ball.

Aarhus were a man down inside three minutes, when E. Kahl was sent off, and they played the rest of their Europa Conference League match at Vejlby Stadion with ten men. Egnatia Rrogozhinë made the most of it. Ildi Gruda put them ahead in the 13th minute, with D. Adjessa credited with the assist, and the lead lasted until James Bogere equalised in the 49th minute.

Egnatia had 66% of the ball and Aarhus 34%, which at first glance suggests a side pinned back for most of the evening. Ball share only shows who held possession, though, not who made it count. The more useful question is what each side did with the ball, and the answer is less one-sided than the possession figures suggest.

Expected goals, or xG, is a score for the quality of chances, based on where and how each shot was taken. Aarhus finished on 1.02 and Egnatia on 0.66, which means Aarhus created the better openings by that measure, even with a man fewer. Both sides finished below the league average of 1.29 per team, so the quality of chances was lower than usual across the whole match.

Egnatia did most of the shooting in terms of accuracy. They hit the target seven times from 11 attempts, while Aarhus managed two on target from eight. Ildi Gruda was the main reason, taking five shots and testing the goalkeeper with four of them, and he scored with one of those efforts. Both sides also took fewer shots than the league average of 12.2 per team, so this was a quiet match by ordinary standards.

Only two goals were scored, against a league average of 3.2 per match, and the equaliser came from a move that Sebastian Jørgensen finished off by setting up Bogere. Aarhus goalkeeper Jesper Hansen made six saves, while Egnatia needed to make just one of their own. The shape of the match, with fewer chances and fewer goals than normal, was ordinary on both counts, even though the numbers for each side look very different.

After one match each in this competition, Aarhus sit 31st on the table with no points, and Egnatia are 19th with one point from a draw. Aarhus have lost four of their last six matches, while Egnatia have drawn three of theirs in the same span.

Player of the matchIldi Gruda1 goal8.0

James Bogere1 goal7.6

Guillem Jaime1 chance created7.5

Eljon Sota6 duels won7.5