Round 9 didn’t see a lot of goals scored, that may well be because defences around the league decided to get tough as the first third of the season ticked away.
Round 9 didn-t see a lot of goals scored, that may well be because defences around the league decided to get tough as the first third of the season ticked away.
Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory
Victory continued to march along on their merry way, with a tough win, while Perth again had their chances but their failure to beat the keeper again cost them.
Possession: Victory 54% / Perth 46%
Crosses: Victory 15 / Perth 22
Total shots: Victory 12 / Perth 15; on target: 1/ 5
Keeper saves: Victory 4/ Perth 0
While Victory dominated the possession and kept the ball well, the stats say that Perth were the more attacking team when they had the ball.
While Marco Rojas-s finish was excellent the shot stats say a lot; simply put they didn-t put the ball far away enough from Nathan Coe, who had a fine game and that Danny Vukovic though he didn-t do a whole lot wrong, looked like he was out-kept in the match.
Central Coast Mariners v Adelaide United
The top of the table clash saw a change in the leaders in the race for the Premier-s Plate.
Possession: Mariners 43% / Reds 57%
Tackles: Mariners 15 / Reds 15; effectiveness: 79% / 59%
Total shots: Mariners 17 / Reds 9; on target: 5 / 3
Completed passes: Mariners 281 / Reds 364; accuracy: 82% / 84%
Ironically the losing side had the bulk of the possession in this one and made nearly one hundred more passes too, but it vaunted for little in the end.
The Reds were unable to deal with the Mariners in the final third, with the Mariners taking nearly double the number of shots, but what John Kosmina shouldn-t and likely won-t let happen again is Adelaide-s poor tackling efficiency.
When they made a challenge it was almost 50-50 as to who would get the ball and in the end it-s that stat which really hurt them.
Brisbane Roar v Newcastle Jets
Ten-on-ten and with so much more space opened up, the Roar were surely the team with the advantage.
Possession: Roar 52% / Jets 48%
Tackles: Roar 18 / Jets 16; effectiveness: 95% / 84%; yellow cards: 0 / 6 red cards: 1/1
Crosses: Roar 6 / Jets 12
Completed passes: Roar 551 / Jets 344; accuracy: 89% / 85%
If any team in the competition is suited by even more space it is the Roar, who simply love to hold the ball and pick their opportunities, never was that more evident than here where they were allowed to make 551 passes with almost 90 per cent coming off.
While that is impressive, what is more so is that they effectively completed nearly all their tackles, winning the ball 95 per cent of the time, that-s dogged for a team who aren-t renowned for their physicality.
As for the Jets, the telling stat has more to do with quality, they are getting the ball into the area, 12 crosses attest to that, but if Emile Heskey isn-t scoring the reason might well be the crossed are not good enough.
Wellington Phoenix v Wanderers FC
Another week gone and yet again the Wanderers failed to fire in the final third.
Possession: Phoenix 51% / Wanderers 49%
Total shots: Phoenix 17 / Wanderers 10; on target: 7 / 2
Tackles: Phoenix 26 / Wanderers 16; effective: 87% / 76%
Crosses: Phoenix 21 / Wanderers 12
Again a fair share of possession didn-t result in any goals for the Wanderers. Tony Popovic may have demanded a penalty or two, but they weren-t given and his side do have real problems in front of goal as demonstrated by their lack of chances.
Truth is they looked anything but capable of matching Wellington-s firepower, and the Nix never shy to take a shot perhaps showed the value in that, given the way Jeremy Brockie beat Ante Covic. That the Nix took seven more shots shows their intent, the Wanderers on the other hand, showed little.
Sydney FC v Melbourne Heart
The statistics for this match showed no key points of contention between the two sides.
