Paris FC won with less of the ball and better chances

Paris FC beat Monaco 3-1 after Lassine Sinayoko scored twice before half-time, despite having less of the ball.

Paris FC had less of the ball than they usually do at home, and still beat Monaco. Their share at Stade Jean-Bouin this season has averaged 51%, but here they had 44%, while Monaco had 56% against an away average of 51.8%. The result came from the chances, and most of those chances came from Lassine Sinayoko, who scored twice in the first half.

His first arrived in the 38th minute, when Maxime López set him up, and his second followed six minutes later from a pass by Moses Simon. Expected goals, a figure that rates each chance by how often shots of that kind tend to go in, put Paris FC at 2.0 for the match. That is well above their usual 1.52, so they did not just finish well, they created better openings than they normally do.

Monaco had more of the ball and fewer good chances. Their expected goals came to 0.7, against an away average of 1.34, which is about half what they usually create. Folarin Balogun pulled one back for them in the 65th minute, assisted by Vanderson, but they scored below their away average of 1.4 and conceded three, well above the 0.9 they usually let in.

Paris FC had eleven shots from inside the penalty area, against six for Monaco, and the Monaco goalkeeper made seven saves across the match. Those figures show how often the home side got into dangerous positions, even when the visitors were keeping the ball. Monaco's play in the final third was not matched by its finishing.

Pablo Pagis added the third for Paris FC in the 74th minute, with Sinayoko providing the assist, and he also took more shots than anyone else on the pitch, five in all. Sinayoko himself was rated 9.6 out of 10, a figure that reflects two goals, an assist and four key passes. Balogun's goal was his only real moment of threat for Monaco, and he took four shots in total.

Neither side lost a player to a red card, and both finished with two yellow cards, so the match stayed eleven against eleven throughout. Both sides made five substitutions, and the changes came in waves around half-time and the hour mark. Neither change altered the balance of the match.

Over eight games each, Paris FC sit sixth with 14 points and Monaco fourth with 15. Monaco's away record reads four wins, three draws and one defeat, which is the strongest form of any side in this comparison. Their defeat here was the first time that record had been broken away from home this season.

Player of the matchL. Sinayoko2 goals · 1 assist9.6

P. Pagis1 goal8.2

M. Lopez1 assist7.7

M. Simon1 assist7.7