Union won 2-1 with ten men, giving up fewer chances than usual

Union St. Gilloise beat SK Beveren 2-1 at the Freethiel Stadion after losing a man, and the numbers show that Beveren's chances were weaker than usual.

Union St. Gilloise were a man short from the 53rd minute, when D. Aquino was shown a red card, and they still left the Freethiel Stadion with a 2-1 win over SK Beveren. Before the dismissal they had gone ahead through L. Patris, and their second goal, from Guilherme Smith, came two minutes after it. Beveren pulled one back through A. Verschueren at 60 minutes, but could not find an equaliser.

A side with one fewer player usually sees less of the ball, and that is what happened here. Union had 47% of possession, well below their away average of 53%. Over the nine matches they have played this season away from home, that is a clear drop, and the match was played almost entirely with ten men.

Union also had fewer shots than they normally manage. They took 10, against an away average of 18.3, and their chances, measured by expected goals (a score for how good each shot was, based on how often such shots go in), came to 0.69 against an average of 1.5. The league average is 1.32 per side, so Union's chances were below the norm for the division as well as for themselves.

Their goals came from better finishing than their chance count suggested. Patris scored and set up another, and he won nine of his individual battles, the most by any player in the match. Hervé Koffi, in the Union goal, made three saves, the most of either goalkeeper, which tells you how often Beveren forced him into action.

Beveren had the ball more than usual at home, 53% against a home average of 50.9%. They had nine shots, almost exactly their usual figure of 9.1, so the quantity was ordinary. The quality was not. Their expected goals came to 0.45, against an average of 0.71 at home, which means their chances were worse than the ones they normally make.

The sending off is the reason the match ended up looking like this, but the numbers show Union did more than hold on. Beveren's chance quality of 0.45 was below the 1.04 expected goals that opponents usually create against Union away from home, so Union gave up fewer good chances than they normally do. Beveren scored one, close to their home average of 1.3, and conceded two, a little above their home average of 1.8.

The result leaves Union third in the table with 23 points from nine matches. Their away record now reads seven wins, two draws and no defeats. Beveren, who are twelfth with 10 points, have now lost three of their last six home matches.

Player of the matchLouis Patris1 goal · 1 assist8.3

Hervé Koffi3 saves7.9

Arno Verschueren1 goal7.7

Kamiel Van de Perre1 shot on target7.6