Stats don’t lie as Perth score three goals in eight minutes

It may have taken an own goal for Perth Glory to complete their comeback against Canberra United but the stats show that the result may not have been as big a shock as some may think.

Despite having Sarah Carroll sent off with a third of the match still to play and producing a freakish three goals in eight minutes to even up the score line 4-4, Glory dominated some key areas on the stat sheet come full-time at McKellar Park.

MATCH REPORT: Canberra and Perth play out 4-4 thriller

Although being away from home and being a player down, Perth still managed to control 63.1% of possession, out passing Canberra 470 to 277.

They launched 27 crosses compared to United’s eight and worked their way into the home side’s penalty area to get shots off 11 times.

Of course, dominating key stats doesn’t always result in victory but producing the above numbers ensured Glory were always in with a chance even at 4-1 down.

Other statistical areas indicate that a point for both sides was a fair result.

Even though they looked set for a romping win with 10 minutes to play, Canberra had only outshot Perth by 15 to 12.

With six of those on target, Canberra themselves went a long way to getting something out of the game even with much less possession.

Passing accuracy in the opponent’s half was almost identical, only 0.1% separating the sides, so both teams were enjoying an equal rhythm in attack.

Stats don’t always tell the story but Perth would have felt hard done by had they not produced those extraordinary last eight minutes.

Sam Kerr

Canberra coach Heather Garriock won’t be happy with the mother of all lapses in concentration but her side sits atop the Westfield W-League heading into the international break.

One player looking to light it up on the world stage will be Sam Kerr who, although well marshalled by Canberra’s defence, produced the cross that deflected off Rachel Corsie and silenced the home crowd at the death.