Le Mans held the ball but could not find a chance at Troyes

Estac Troyes beat Le Mans 2-0 while having less of the ball, because their shots were far more dangerous than the visitors' few attempts.

Le Mans had 61% of the ball at the Stade de l'Aube, and still lost 2-0 to Estac Troyes. That is well above the 44.1% they average in away games this season, so the visitors kept possession for longer than they usually do. Holding the ball, though, was not where this match was decided.

Troyes had 39% of the ball, almost exactly their home average of 38.8%, so their share of possession was ordinary for them. Their volume of shooting was ordinary too, with 14 attempts against a league average of 12.7 per side. What changed was the quality of those attempts. Expected goals is a rough measure of how likely each shot was to go in, and Troyes reached 1.79 here, against 0.72 in an average home game this season.

Le Mans went the other way. They managed three shots, only one of them on target, and an expected goals figure well short of what they usually produce. Away from home they average 9.9 shots and 1.46 expected goals, and the league average is 1.42 per side, so this was a sharp fall from their own normal level rather than a match that merely fell short of a high bar.

Mouhamed Diop opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, with an assist from Timothee Nkada, and his display earned a rating of 8.2. He had three shots himself, two of them on target, and his finish was the clearest sign of the difference in quality between the sides. Ismaël Boura added the second in the 71st minute, and no assist was recorded for that goal.

Nicolas Kocik had five saves to make, which is a considerable amount of work for a side that managed only three shots of its own. There were no sendings off, and each side picked up three yellow cards across the afternoon. The cards did not change the shape of the game, which stayed with the side that was creating the better chances.

Le Mans completed 504 of their 576 passes, a far larger total than Troyes' 282 of 357, so their passing was the more accurate of the two. But the passing rarely reached the penalty area. Le Mans had two shots from inside the box, while Troyes had twelve, and that gap explains more of the scoreline than the ball did.

Five of Troyes' last six results are defeats, and Le Mans have won one of their last six. Those numbers were already in the background before this match, and the result leaves both sides with the same kind of problem: a lot of possession, or in Troyes' case a lot of quality, that has not yet turned into a steady run of wins.

Player of the matchM. Diop1 goal8.2

A. Monfray1 chance created7.7

N. Kocik5 saves7.3

T. Nkada1 assist7.1