Nashville held the ball but Philadelphia had the better chances

A goalless draw at Geodis Park in which the side with less of the ball had the better chances, though both fell short of their usual output.

Nashville SC had 63% of the ball at Geodis Park and still went home without scoring. That is well above their usual 54% at home, so the possession was real, but it did not carry them far. They had 9 shots, against an average of 13.8 when they play at home, and only one of them was on target.

Philadelphia Union had 37% of the ball, below their usual 47.5% on the road, and took just 6 shots against an average of 17.1 away. Those figures alone suggest a side that rarely got forward. Yet their expected goals (xG, a rating of chances where each shot is scored by how likely it was to go in) reached 0.84, higher than Nashville's total. The side with less of the ball had the better chances.

Nashville's chances were of low quality. Their xG was 0.58, against a home average of 2.07, so the shots they took were mostly ones that rarely go in. Philadelphia's figure was also short of their away average of 2.02, which means neither side produced the kind of chance that usually decides a match. Nashville's defence usually gives up 1.14 xG per home game, so Philadelphia's chances were below what that defence normally allows.

Set against the league as a whole, the picture is the same. An average side in this competition takes 13.4 shots and creates 1.51 xG per match, while the two teams here had 15 shots between them. The league averages 3.4 goals per match, and this one had none. Both sides were quieter than usual, and the goalless scoreline reflects that rather than a single decisive moment.

There were no sendings off. Nashville picked up one yellow card, in the 22nd minute, while Philadelphia received two, in the 40th and 90th minutes. Nashville made five substitutions and Philadelphia four, with most of the changes arriving between the 58th and 86th minutes. Neither side had a player sent off, so both teams finished with the eleven they started with.

Nashville's last six matches brought five wins and a draw, and they had scored in every one of them. Philadelphia's recent run includes four wins, a draw and a defeat, and that defeat was a 1-0 loss in which they also failed to score. Against that background, Nashville's goalless evening was their first match in six without a goal.

The final whistle left both sides with a point, but Philadelphia's chances, though few, were better than Nashville's, and that is the detail a neutral will remember from the evening.

Player of the matchJ. Palacios2 chances created7.6

B. Acosta7 duels won7.2

M. Woledzi6 duels won7.2

P. Yazbek6 duels won7.0