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+---- Thread: Academy Task 5: Cake Press Breakdown of Academy Matchday One (/showthread.php?tid=5706)
Academy Task 5: Cake Press Breakdown of Academy Matchday One - cake307 - 2024-09-26
This week saw the kick off of the season across the various levels of SSL. With a large influx in the Class of 18, it made for an exciting matchday 1 at the Academy level, to signal the real start of the season. Academy Matchday 1 saw Sydney City take on Victoria Falls, and Atletico Medellin take on Stockholm IK.
GAME 1: Sydney vs Victoria Falls
The home side for this game was Sydney, and they put it to good use. Rigby Emerson took only seven minutes to score the opening goal of the game, with Thomas Hohenhan following suit in the thirteenth minute, giving the Sydneysiders a quick two to nothing advantage. Both goals were assisted by Friendly Hermit, who ended the half with a game leading 8.5 rating. The Emerson goal was a clear cut chance, but the Hohenhan goal may be considered more impressive, as it was not. Sydney City would go on to be wasteful for the rest of the half, scoring no further goals. However, Sydney City could be proud of the first half, as they actually outperformed their xG of 1.65 with the two goals they did score, in addition to putting seven of their eight shots on target and having a possession percentage of 59%.
Victoria Falls, as one could likely guess from the Sydney City numbers, suffered through the first half, amassing only .34 xG on three shots, only one of which was a clear cut chance, and none of which were converted. In a further sign of trouble, their highest rated player was Sweeper the Keeper, despite allowing two goals, with a 7.9 rating. Other than Sweeper, Sam Volta, and Ben Nelson, no other player on Victoria Falls was able to pass a 6.7 rating in the first half.
The second half opened with similar Sydney dominance, their third goal of the game being scored by Andres Perdillo, on an assist from Jordan Bamford, with a shot from outside the box splitting the defense and slotting into the bottom corner. This was a reward for several good, but unsuccessful shots previously in the half, and would be the last Sydney goal of the game. They would end the day with three goals on 2.26 xG, performing well on the offensive side.
Victoria Falls would improve somewhat in the second half. Even though they only managed three shots, the same as the first half, they were of higher quality, and late on Pope Thor scored a consolation goal in the 87th minute. However, very shortly after that goal, one of the bright spots of Victoria Falls' painful first day, Sam Volta, went down with injury and had to be removed from the game. We wish him a speedy recovery.
KEY MATCH SUMMARY:
Sydney defeats Victoria Falls, 3-1
Sydney scored 3 goals on an xG of 2.26, slightly outperforming their expected return, but also had 63% possession and 12 corners, dominating the game and keeping it played in the Victoria Falls final third. The team average ratings of 7.29 for Sydney vs 6.82 for Victoria Falls tells you what you need to know about the overall performance of each team.
GAME 2: Stockholm IK vs Atletico Medellin
This game would be played in Sweden, and saw a very rare case of a goalie taking a corner. In terms of advanced stats, Stockholm IK was the better team, if not as dominant over Atletico as Sydney had been over Victoria Falls. However, they did turn their xG of .91 into two goals, one for Joao Peixoto and one for Julian Rubio. Each was assisted by one of the Skovgard siblings, the first by Aleksander and the second by Caspian. The second goal was what some would call a fluke, the result of a near scrum in midfield that saw a bouncing ball sent deep into Atletico’s third, where Julian reacted first to grab the loose ball and slot it into the net. They all count the same, however.
Atletico had every reason to be disappointed with their performance in the first half, as they actually led in possession, 54% to 46%, and completed a phenomenal 213 passes, but only managed to amass .51 xG and no goals. The most likely cause for this was that, of the three shots they took, not a single one was on target, and with not a single player mustering a rating above 7, they simply did not come out fighting.
The second half, by comparison, was exceptionally boring. Stockholm only managed a couple more shots, none of which were overly threatening, while Atletico seemed to finally find their game too late to make a difference. Even then, they also only managed two more shots, neither of which was on target again, and went home empty handed. Still, Atletico players and fans can feel somewhat unlucky, as the two teams had a very close 1.12 xG to .90 xG, as well as exactly even 50/50 possession, and in terms of quality on the pitch, this game likely could have been a draw, if Stockholm had not significantly outperformed their advanced statistics. However, luck can be a skill all its own.
KEY MATCH SUMMARY:
Stockholm defeats Atletico, 2-0.
The game itself was, by most statistics, evenly matched, with possession split down the middle, similar xG numbers, and a difference of only eight in the end number of completed passes. However, two things stand out as to why Stockholm was ‘luckier’: their xG came on 11 shots, while Atletico’s came on 5, meaning they tested the keeper far more often, and the game was largely played in Atletico’s half even when they did have possession. However, it remains to be seen if this is something Stockholm will be able to rely on, if Atletico will be able to sort out their inability to move the ball up the pitch, or if Sydney City will be the best Academy team this year by a long shot.