[Post-Match Thoughts] Five-Star Performance (Hougang 0 LCS 5)

Life is much easier, and writing is much easier when the Sailors win, and win in such fashion. If you thought that this game was a walk in the park (which was something we suggested in our preview), then you’d be both wrong and right. To help illustrate that, let’s take a look at the stats.

Some very interesting stats. You would be forgiven for thinking that the Sailors were lucky to win the game if you look at the respective xG achieved by each team. However, that came down to two reasons – more patient chance creation, and better individual quality.

More Patient Chance Creation

2.5 xG vs 2 xG suggests that Hougang created nearly as good chances as the Sailors did – however one look at the Shots stat changes that thought. Hougang took 25 shots, mostly speculative, while the Sailors were a bit more patient with their possession, and took only 15 shots. If you do some very basic back-of-the-napkin math, Hougang clocked in at 0.08xG per shot taken, while the Sailors clocked in at 0.17xG per shot taken – so each Sailors shot was twice as likely to make it into the back of the net.

That probably accounts for the Sailors’ high passing stat as well. As much as Hougang are a possession-hungry team (this was only their 2nd out of 8 games where they have less possession than their opponents), the Sailors played more passes than Hougang, perhaps in a bid to fashion better chances for their forwards. I will now show you a comparison of Sailors shots against Hougang shots, with a particular emphasis on shots that are 0.20xG and above.

Hougang’s shots above 0.20xG

LCS’s shots above 0.20xG (Diego’s goal + 2 Abdul Rasaq goals)

In fact, if you look at Hougang’s shot chart, 14 of their 25 shots came from non-threatening areas of the pitch. Of these 14 shots, only 4 made it on target. Perhaps with a little more patience, Hougang could have fashioned slightly better shooting opportunities.

That being said – Coach Risto and his staff must be analysing the tape to see if they can limit the number of shots being taken. Even if these shots are from non-threatening range, how many times have we seen bad things happen just by virtue of the fact that the ball is in dangerous areas? A wicked deflection off a defender leaving a keeper stranded, an unsighted goalkeeper not seeing a shot till it’s too late because of the mass of bodies in front of him, an unlucky bounce off an uneven pitch (thank goodness TPY Stadium is no more), a save that is parried out to another attacker – the possibilities are endless. To achieve true domination and to allow for less variables in the game, we should be trying to limit our opponents from taking such shots. Looking at the graphic above, 11 of those shots were in a decent area, and 3 were on target. On another day, some of these will go in, or lead to major chaos.

Better Individual Quality

SPL Twitter, SPH, and the club’s official website all led with similar headlines – Maxime Lestienne stole the show. It’d take a real fool or contrarian to argue that Maxime didn’t have a good game. 2 goals, 2 assists, all of which where he looked a class apart from the rest on the pitch. He kicked things off with a stunning free kick, and wrapped things up with an unerring finish into the far corner after blitzing past the Hougang defence. In between, he was involved in what is becoming a trademark cutback for Abdul Rasaq to finish, and also a move straight from the futsal courts where Diego used him to hold up the ball and then release to him for an easy finish in the box. It’s now 5 goals, and 8 assists in 7 games for our Belgian superstar – the only game where he did not register a goal or an assist is the 4-0 defeat to Albirex where we were reduced to ten men for the majority of the game.

Even opposition fans will concede that Maxime is a class apart, and this ties in to the point made earlier. I showed you the graphic with 3 of our goals being 0.20xG and above. Well, the other 2 goals were below 0.20xG and they were Maxime’s goals. One was the beautiful freekick that had Zaiful Nizam grasping at thin air, while the other was pretty underrated if you ask me. Media outlets described it as a “neat finish”, but I don’t think that does justice to the difficulty of the finish, especially given that Zaiful is a very accomplished keeper. Maxime basically put it into the only part of the goal where Zaiful would not be able to reach, and that finish, particularly while running at pace, is not an easy one. But the night wasn’t just about Maxime. Shoutout also to Zharfan, Abdul Rasaq, and maybe a surprise one in this list, Anu. Let me elaborate

Zharfan

In the post-match reactions, I spoke to a fan and assumed that he would name Maxime as Man of the Match, given he notched 2 goals and 2 assists. However, I was caught by surprise a little as he named Zharfan as his pick for Man of the Match. And that got me thinking – while the score was 5-0, games really can turn on moments. Hougang is a team low on confidence, but what would have happened if they managed to get one or two goals when the Sailors had not raced away to a 3-goal lead yet? That might have turned the game, and if you look back at the game, Zharfan did pull off some crucial saves, not least the double save from Sahil who absolutely thwacked the ball at goal from a narrow angle, which was followed up by a good parry when Gabriel Quak tried to curl it into the far post (67th minute). It was an important couple of saves at a point when the score was still 2-0. Let’s look at Zharfan’s stats from that game.

Zharfan saved all 7 shots he faced, and Instat classified 2 of those saves as supersaves (this usually means the shot was taken from somewhere with a higher xG than normal). He also claimed the ball well from setpiece deliveries and crosses. The only thing he will probably not be too satisfied with is some of his long kicking that night.

Abdul Rasaq

We spoke to Rasaq post-game, and he is such a delight to speak with. It was our second time speaking with him this season, both times after he turned in a goalscoring display. He has 5 goals this term and has really grasped the opportunity given to him because of Kodai Tanaka’s enforced absence (get well soon, Kodai). For someone who is primarily a penalty-box finisher, his second goal required a bit more than just a first-time finish. Correct me if I am wrong, his previous finishes were all first-time finishes set up by his teammates. This one required a bit more guile, abit more thought, as he turned on a Hami pass and fired into the bottom corner. In our interview with him, he spoke about how it was an “instinct” – and honestly that is exactly what we wanted to hear. It did not come across as him trying to brag about it either, I think he was just very honest about his thought process and how it was mostly unthinking. You’ve heard all the cliches thrown about at strikers, such as “fox in the box”, “knows where the goal is”, etc etc. Right now, Rasaq is ticking those boxes and I think this is a positive headache for Coach Risto to have. He admitted as much in his interview that Rasaq’s goal return is better than expected – so now having Bernie Ibini on his hands, he will have to figure out how to best structure the team to ensure we continue taking our chances in the box.

Anumanthan

In our previous article after the Tampines game, we spoke about perhaps giving Anu more minutes on the pitch at the expense of Hariss. We spoke about how Anu offers more mobility, more bite, and as a result, the team looks a lot more energetic. This was on show once again in the Hougang game.

The first half was very functional, and it seemed that Maxime’s individual quality (1 goal, 1 assist) had given us a 2-0 lead which was just about deserved – however we didn’t quite blow Hougang off the park. The second half was very different, and I think part of that is down to Anu coming on for the final 39 minutes of the game. In that time, he used the ball well, won his challenges well, and provided a mobile screen which helped the rest of the attacking talents do more of their thing. Let’s look at the stats to see if they back up these thoughts.

Outstanding. He definitely made his mark in the second half, and his challenges were the springboard for some of the promising attacks. Look at the 5th goal for example – he wins the ball in midfield, turns to look for options, gives the simple pass to Diego, and then lets the superior attacking abilities of Diego and Maxime take over. That’s what we need from our deepest-lying midfielder. Looking forward to seeing more of Anu in future games!

Maxime

Where else can we possibly end off this post? 2 goals, 2 assists, and not easy goals either. Hougang are a team low on confidence, but Maxime absolutely destroyed them. I don’t think more needs to be said about his ability on the pitch, but perhaps we can look a bit deeper. How is he gelling with the team? How is his relationship with the fans? What are some of his motivations?

Maxime’s body language has always been something that people liked to comment on. “He looks damn sian“, “he looks like he gave up liao“, “he looks like wahlaoeh my teammates why like that sia, why did I come to SPL” are common statements that you hear from SPL fans, not just from other clubs’ fans, sometimes even from the Sailors fans. In this game, do yourself a favour and go look at Rasaq’s second goal in the 71st minute. He was in a position where he anticipated maybe Rasaq squaring the ball to him. However, Rasaq turned and finished with aplomb. Some other forwards may have a muted celebration, but he immediately applauded the goal and shared the joy of his teammate.

When he scored the fifth, he jogged to the fans and his family to applaud them – and he had this to say post-game as well – “We’ve got the best fans in Singapore, and I hope they continue to come out and support us as they have. It’s a long season ahead and we need them by our side as we fight for the title“. (hat-tip to Shamir from LCS for this soundbite)

Of course, we Sailors fans know that we’re not exactly the loudest fans in the country and we know that part of what Maxime said is to please the fans, but it still hints at a player appreciating the support that he’s given, and I am not so sure the same quote would have been allowed to be released if the noise levels were not of an acceptable standard – he would look like a laughing stock for even saying it.

All this just to say, all is well in Maxime-land, and if all is well in Maxime-land, all is well in Sailors-land as well.

Written by Eddy Hirono

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