Nice's two goals came from fewer chances than usual

Nice beat Stade Brestois 29 2-1 after making fewer chances than they normally do, while the home side's late penalty changed nothing.

Stade Brestois 29 made the better chances at home and still lost. Ludovic Ajorque put them ahead in the 15th minute, but Nice turned the match round with goals from Sepe Elye Wahi and Sofiane Diop, in the 61st and 83rd minutes. Those two strikes were enough, even though the home side had created more danger for most of the afternoon.

Expected goals, or xG, scores each shot by how likely it was to go in, so it measures the quality of chances rather than the goals themselves. Stade Brestois 29 reached 1.72 on that measure, below their usual figure of 1.92 but comfortably above the league's average of 1.45 for a side in a single match. Nice managed only 0.76, well under their normal 1.09, which means their attacking work was thinner than it usually is.

The possession picture ran the other way to the scoreline in one sense and matched it in another. Stade Brestois 29 had 51% of the ball, a good deal more than their usual share of around 45.6%, while Nice had 49%, short of their customary 54.9%. Shots told a similar story: the home side took 11 against their usual 14.6, and Nice took 9 against their normal 11.3, both below the league's 12.9 per team.

Nice's efficiency at the other end is what decided the match. Only two of their shots were on target, yet both found the net, and Wahi was involved in each goal, scoring the first and setting up the second. His performance earned an 8.2 rating, the highest of the match, and it was built on those two decisive contributions rather than on a large volume of shots. Stade Brestois 29, by contrast, put six shots on target and scored once.

Late on, the home side had their chance to change the result. A penalty was confirmed by VAR in the 90th minute, with Ibrahim Yayiya Kanté named as the player involved, but the score stayed at 2-1. Nice had already seen their lead survive a difficult spell, and the late penalty did not alter the outcome. The home side's defence also conceded twice, against their usual 1.4 per match.

For Nice, the two away goals were more than double their usual return of 0.9 per away game. It is a rare away afternoon in which the goals arrived with so few shots, and it leaves them with three points from a match where the chance count suggested they should have come away with less.

Player of the matchE. Wahi1 goal · 1 assist8.2

L. Ajorque1 goal7.8

S. Diop1 goal7.6

Y. Diouf6 saves7.4