Purle Athletic 2 - 3 Stonbor County

Key Events:

• 13' Stonbor County Rodrigo Gomes scores
• 23' Yellow card to Stonbor County Xinping Boon
• 32' Stonbor County Joaquim Costa scores, assisted by Tobias Bauer
• 39' Stonbor County Rodrigo Gomes scores, assisted by Peter Christensen
• 45' Yellow card to Purle Athletic Jorge Alvez
• 67' Purle Athletic Thiago Gomes scores, assisted by Michael Brown
• 80' Purle Athletic Joaquim Costa scores

Expected Goals (xG) Analysis: Stonbor County recorded 3.38 xG and scored three, while Purle Athletic produced 2.08 xG and scored twice. Both sides finished close to their chance-quality estimates, so the result was less a tale of extraordinary conversion than of the visitors creating more: they had 17 shots, 11 on target, to the hosts’ 10 and seven. With 57% possession and 11 dribbles, Stonbor County had more of the ball and more ways to advance; Purle Athletic, meanwhile, registered 12 tackles to the visitors’ six, a measure of the work required to disrupt that flow. The three goals by the 39th minute gave the visitors a lead that the hosts’ second-half response could narrow, but not erase.

• No Purle Athletic players recorded a rating of 7.0 or higher.

For Purle Athletic, the goals from Thiago Gomes and Joaquim Costa made the closing stages a contest again after the hosts had trailed by three. The response showed some capacity to turn pressure into goals, but it arrived after Stonbor County had done the most important work. The hosts’ higher tackle count and respectable seven shots on target point to a side that stayed involved; they simply had too much ground to recover.

Stonbor County leave with a 3-2 win built on a strong first half and a clear advantage in possession, shots and xG. Purle Athletic made the scoreline respectable and the finish more uncertain than the visitors would have preferred. The match’s arithmetic, in the end, favoured the side that made its head start count.