Depor Beat 1.16 xG Hosts 3-2 With 0.81 xG
Villarreal held 62% possession, 16 shots and 1.16 xG. Deportivo La Coruña scored three from 0.81 xG. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finished with one goal and two assists.
Published 6 Sept 20262 min read
Villarreal controlled the ball and the shot count at Estadio de la Ceramica and still lost 2-3. The hosts posted 1.16 expected goals to Deportivo La Coruña's 0.81, 16 shots to 8, and 62% possession. Both sides created three big chances. Deportivo converted theirs.
Key Numbers
xG on target flipped the story: 1.44 for Villarreal, 1.29 for Deportivo. The home keeper faced 1.29 xGOT and finished at -1.71 goals prevented with zero saves. The away keeper made four saves and +0.44 goals prevented against 1.44 xGOT.
Villarreal completed 90% of passes (546/606) and 85% in the final third (203/239). Deportivo sat at 86% overall (314/367) and 76% in the final third (52/68). Box touches were 34-18 to the hosts. Clearances went the other way: 11-37. Expected assists were 1.19-0.46.
Tactical Reading
Both teams started in a 4-4-2. Nicolas Pepe scored in the 19th minute from an Ayoze Perez assist. Luismi Cruz leveled on 43 from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. After the break an own goal by Traore A. put Villarreal 2-1 up in the 76th minute.
Two minutes later Zakaria Eddahchouri equalized, again from Aubameyang. Aubameyang then scored the winner in the 88th. Deportivo did not need volume. Six of their eight shots came from inside the box. Villarreal took seven of 16 from outside the box and blocked six of their own attempts.
The first half was level on xG at 0.39 each. The second half is where Villarreal's territorial edge (34 box touches, seven corners) failed to become a third goal. One error led to a goal on each side.
Standout Performers
Aubameyang produced one goal and two assists. Cruz and Eddahchouri finished the other two Deportivo goals. Pepe scored Villarreal's open-play strike. The visiting goalkeeper's four saves against 1.44 xGOT is the cleanest single-match goalkeeping number on the sheet.
What It Means
Deportivo sit fourth in LaLiga with eight points from four matches, unbeaten, and inside the Champions League places on the current table. Villarreal are 16th with two points from four (6 scored, 8 conceded) and no wins.
For live soccer on TV viewers this was an efficiency match, not a territorial one. Villarreal won the xG, the passes and the box touches. Deportivo won the scoreboard because Aubameyang created three of the three away goals and because the home keeper did not beat the xGOT he faced.