Elche's 69% of the ball left them goalless against Valencia

Valencia won 1-0 at Elche, with Umar Sadiq's goal enough after the hosts kept most of the ball and took more shots than usual.

Elche had almost seven parts in ten of the ball at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, and it bought them nothing. Their 69% is well above the 50.1% they average at home this season. Valencia, who usually keep 45% of the ball away from home, had 31% here and still left with all three points.

Elche did shoot more than usual, taking 13 efforts against the 11.3 they average at home. Only two of those were on target, and eight went wide or off target, so the extra volume did not produce better chances. Expected goals, a rough measure of how good each chance was, came to 0.85 for Elche, below the 1.12 they usually reach at home. In other words, they were shooting more often without shooting better.

Valencia took five shots, well under the 10.1 they average on their travels, and four of them came from inside the box. Their chances were of roughly the quality they usually create, which is a useful reminder that a side can do a lot with very little. Umar Sadiq was the man who made it count. His goal came in the 69th minute, assisted by Arnaut Danjuma, and he had three shots in the match, all of them on target.

Elche's goal return was the bigger surprise. At home they average 1.4 goals a game, and this time they finished with none. Valencia's away average is 0.7 goals, so a single goal was about the return they normally manage, which made it the match's decisive figure without being an unusual one for them. The difference was that Elche could not turn their extra shots into the goal their home form suggests.

The defensive side of the match is where the picture changes. Elche usually concede 1.7 goals at home, and Valencia also average 1.7 when they play away, yet Valencia kept a clean sheet. The chances Valencia allowed were worth 0.96 expected goals, below the 1.67 that Elche usually give up at home. Stole Dimitrievski made three saves for the visitors, and his work in goal was the reason Elche's late pressure never turned into a leveller.

Discipline was tidy on both sides. Elche were booked three times, Valencia twice, and neither side had a player sent off. Elche made four substitutions in the 68th minute, and Valencia made their changes later in the match, with the final ones coming in the closing minutes. Valencia committed 14 fouls to Elche's nine, which is a sign of a side that spent more of the game without the ball.

Elche are 17th in the table with ten points from ten matches. Valencia are 19th, with six points from the same number of games.

Player of the matchU. Sadiq1 goal7.4

Gonzalo Villar4 chances created7.1

César Tárrega4 duels won7.1

Pepelu3 duels won7.1