From The Dung Heap
An analytical look at The Dons & our opponents
"Them" - Ibrox
Scottish Cup- 16/3/2019
That had all the feelings of the 2-1 game down there. There wasn't a lot of nerves. A bit of hanging on in parts but fairly simple being brutally honest.
I said for the first game they'd make mistakes and we needed to capitalise on it. If they'd done it 4 minutes earlier then it would have saved everyone a lot of hassle and given us a huge Pittodrie bounce to remember. Still, I'm sure the <2% of the capacity in that shitey wee corner are glad it went the way it did.
I also suggested we force their wide players inside. This really worked with Kent on their left and Candeias was pushed so deep that his link with Tavernier didn't produce much.
Let's be honest, there's not really much we can take from our passmap. 83 successful passes. That's the lowest amount we've had since records began (start of the 15-16 season). Just over half of our passes found their man. That's the lowest completion rate of any of the games we've been involved in this season, opposition included. Defensively we did a fantastic job, but it came at a real cost offensively.
In terms of them dangering our goal, Tavernier had a shot blocked on the 57th minute. That was their most likely chance of scoring from a shot they took with an xG value of 0.26. The Rat/Snake/Judas hitting the post notched a 0.16 and that was the picks of a large but very low quality bunch.
A special shout here for Dom Ball and his work during that counter attack that Candeias made a complete and utter arse of. Cutting off the pass inside forced him to keep travelling with the ball and forced him into the hardest pass possible.
Considering in their average home game they score 2.28 and an average xG of 2.18 and we played the whole game defending, we did an amazing job keeping them down to an xG of 1.15. 19 shots and 4 on target. Their lowest accuracy % this season outside of the 0-0 at home to St Johnstone in which they managed a whole shot on target in 17 attempts. They had a higher xG that day though which means we forced them into shooting from less effective areas than St Johnstone managed.
This really was a game of extremes one way or another. 75 interceptions. The most we've had in a 90 minute game this season. In fact it's the most since we had since Ventspils where we had 76 at the start of season 16-17. I mean it's kind of unsurprising considering we gave the ball away so many bloody times but we still needed to win it back once we'd hoofed it back to them. Another big shout to Dom Ball and McKenna for their interceptions. McLennan well up there as well and his defensive work was key to our point at Parkhead as well. If he can keep up his effectiveness at both ends of the park he'll soon be one of the first names on the teamsheet!
TL;DR Get it right up them!
Mon the fucking Dons!
That had all the feelings of the 2-1 game down there. There wasn't a lot of nerves. A bit of hanging on in parts but fairly simple being brutally honest.
I said for the first game they'd make mistakes and we needed to capitalise on it. If they'd done it 4 minutes earlier then it would have saved everyone a lot of hassle and given us a huge Pittodrie bounce to remember. Still, I'm sure the <2% of the capacity in that shitey wee corner are glad it went the way it did.
I also suggested we force their wide players inside. This really worked with Kent on their left and Candeias was pushed so deep that his link with Tavernier didn't produce much.
In terms of xG we were beaten comprehensively. When you get an early goal and the chance doesn't rate very highly (0.01 for our opener) then it's always going to make it seem like a smash and grab. First of all I'm shocked it is rated so low and secondly it shows McGregor should be doing a lot better. Thankfully he's an absolutely atrocious human being and the zombie hoards lap that up. They cut him a hell of a lot of slack because he apparently "get's it". I don't know how being a scumbag helps in keeping goal but long may it continue.
Our second shot of the game which led to the second goal had another astonishingly low value. 0.10 this time which has validated my screams of "MCGINN'S THERE! PLAY HIM PLAYHIMPLAYHIMPLAYHIM FUCKING SQUARE IT DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING SHOOT... YAAAAAAAASSSSSSS!!!!!!!". Cool, calm, collected attacking play from McLennan, the most inch perfect pass from May and another bit of dodgy goalkeeping sealed our place in the showpiece semi final between the best two teams in Scotland.
In terms of them dangering our goal, Tavernier had a shot blocked on the 57th minute. That was their most likely chance of scoring from a shot they took with an xG value of 0.26. The Rat/Snake/Judas hitting the post notched a 0.16 and that was the picks of a large but very low quality bunch.
A special shout here for Dom Ball and his work during that counter attack that Candeias made a complete and utter arse of. Cutting off the pass inside forced him to keep travelling with the ball and forced him into the hardest pass possible.
Considering in their average home game they score 2.28 and an average xG of 2.18 and we played the whole game defending, we did an amazing job keeping them down to an xG of 1.15. 19 shots and 4 on target. Their lowest accuracy % this season outside of the 0-0 at home to St Johnstone in which they managed a whole shot on target in 17 attempts. They had a higher xG that day though which means we forced them into shooting from less effective areas than St Johnstone managed.
This really was a game of extremes one way or another. 75 interceptions. The most we've had in a 90 minute game this season. In fact it's the most since we had since Ventspils where we had 76 at the start of season 16-17. I mean it's kind of unsurprising considering we gave the ball away so many bloody times but we still needed to win it back once we'd hoofed it back to them. Another big shout to Dom Ball and McKenna for their interceptions. McLennan well up there as well and his defensive work was key to our point at Parkhead as well. If he can keep up his effectiveness at both ends of the park he'll soon be one of the first names on the teamsheet!
TL;DR Get it right up them!
Mon the fucking Dons!
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