Blackburn's four shots beat West Ham's eighteen

Blackburn beat West Ham 2-1 at Ewood Park by turning very little into goals, while West Ham had nearly two thirds of the ball and most of the shots.

Blackburn had four shots at Ewood Park and scored from two of them, which is not how a home side usually wins. Their average at home is 11.6 shots a game, and the league average is 13.2 shots per side, so four was a quiet afternoon for them by any measure.

Their chances were not poor, though. Expected goals, a rough measure of how often a shot from that position goes in, came to 0.9 for Blackburn, close to the 1.01 they usually reach at home. The shortage was in the number of chances, not their quality, and the two that mattered both went in.

West Ham had almost everything else. They held 64% of the ball, well above the 58.3% they average away, while Blackburn's 36% sat below their own home average of 47.3%. West Ham also had 18 shots, more than the 16.1 they usually take on their travels, yet their expected goals of 1.28 fell short of the 1.63 they usually create away. They had more shots, but the chances were of lower quality than they normally manage.

Blackburn's first goal came in the 54th minute, when Andri Guðjohnsen finished a move started by J. Fevrier. Oladapo Afolayan doubled the lead 17 minutes later, and Joel Piroe pulled one back for West Ham in the 82nd minute, eleven minutes after that. Piroe and Guðjohnsen shared the highest rating on the pitch at 7.7.

West Ham's shots were more often on target, with four on goal, but only one of those went in. Blackburn put two on target and scored from both, which is why the match finished with the home side ahead despite the visitors' dominance of the other numbers.

Kostas Mavropanos was busy at the other end for West Ham, with three shots and nine duels won, but none of his efforts reached the net. Harry Pickering did similar work for Blackburn at the back, winning eight duels and making six interventions to break up West Ham's attacks.

West Ham have 23 points from 14 games, Blackburn 18.

Player of the matchA. Guðjohnsen1 goal7.7

J. Piroe1 goal7.7

K. Mavropanos1 chance created7.3

J. Fevrier1 assist7.2