Lyon’s ruthlessness in their thumping win over Rangers has been laid bare by their stunning xG return at Ibrox.
The French Ligue 1 side – who have failed to hit the heights domestically so far – stepped it up in Govan as they bagged a 4-1 win on Europa League matchday two to move on to six points from six. Alexandre Lacazette and Malick Fofana both netted doubles beyond Jack Butland on a night to forget for Philippe Clement’s troops. They went into the contest off the back of four wins and clean sheets on the trot including a competition opening day win away to Malmo, but Lyon brought that run to an end with a bang.
Despite the dominance in the goal charts, the stats show that Rangers’ xG was actually HIGHER than Lyon on Thursday night. A brief description of ‘Expected goals’ is that it ‘measures the quality of a chance by calculating the likelihood it will be scored from a particular position on the pitch during a particular phase of play’. Rangers ended the match with a 1.92 xG with Lyon a couple of points back on 1.90 which showed their real cutting edge in front of a packed out Ibrox support.
Speaking post-match, Clement rued Rangers’ ‘200 per cent chances’ and the ‘difference in quality and finishing’. He stated: “With the scoreline, we don’t reward ourselves, clearly. We have 200 per cent chances, the first chances of the game but we need to kill them off. 1-0, 2-0, it turns into a totally different game.
“So we go behind by losing the ball in places that we cannot lose the ball. Our defending is not sharp enough.
‘We come back to 1-1, then we concede because we lose balls in our own half, so that’s very disappointing. Of course, Lyon can soak up and wait for transitions. They are a team with a lot of good players with technical qualities. In the second half, we tried to push to come back.
“At the end of the game, when you have the same amount of chances and the same numbers, but the scoreline is clear. That is the difference in quality and finishing.”