Ambrose's late penalty miss kept Gent ahead of Kortrijk

Gent beat Kortrijk 1-0 after T. Ambrose failed to convert a late penalty, with the better chances going to the home side.

Kortrijk were awarded a penalty at 86 minutes, and T. Ambrose failed to score from it. That miss mattered more than anything else in this match, because it left Gent's single goal standing with only a few minutes to play. Gent had gone ahead in the 32nd minute, when A. Kadri scored with T. Araujo credited with the assist, and Kortrijk never recovered the chance that a penalty offers.

Gent deserved their win on the chances. Expected goals, a rough measure of how likely each shot was to go in judging by where it was taken, put Gent at 1.38. That is close to the 1.29 they usually reach at home, so their attack was ordinary for them. Kortrijk's 0.47 sits well under the 0.88 they average away, which means their attacking returned less than usual.

The ball was shared almost evenly. Gent had 51% of possession and Kortrijk 49%, which means the share of time each side had the ball. Both sides had more of it than they normally do: Gent average 44.5% at home and Kortrijk average 42.6% away. Neither team took many shots either, as the league average is 12.8 per side and Gent managed fewer than their own usual 11.7 at home.

Kortrijk were the more accurate side when it came to hitting the target, with six shots on target. Most of their attempts came from distance, though, with seven shots from outside the box against three from inside it. Long efforts rarely carry much expected goals, which explains why their total sits so far below their usual level despite the shots on target.

At the other end, Davy Roef made six saves for Gent and was rated 8.2, level with Mathias Delorge. Marko Ilić made three saves for Kortrijk, so the goalkeepers were kept busy in different amounts. Tibe De Vlieger won eleven duels for Gent, and Kortrijk committed nineteen fouls against Gent's seven, a high count in a match that ended with only one goal, against a league average of 3.2 per game.

Gent are fourth in the table and have won eight of their ten home matches. Kortrijk sit 18th, with one win from ten away. The winning side is in a far stronger position than the visitors, and the gap in their records explains a good deal about how the match felt from the start.

Across their last six matches, Gent have three wins and Kortrijk have one.

Player of the matchDavy Roef6 saves8.2

Mathias Delorge1 chance created8.2

Hyllarion Goore2 chances created7.9

Tibe De Vlieger11 duels won7.6