Match Analysis: Marseille & Hannover Streaks End

WhoScored’s regular early-week round-up of those unbeaten significant streaks that have come to an end focuses on Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga this time round. Marseille lost for the first time in ten league matches in France’s top division with a 1-0 defeat at mid-table Brest, while over in Germany, Hannover’s nine match unbeaten record came to an end at Dortmund, as Jürgen Klopp’s side maintained their four-point advantage over Bayern at the top of the table with a 3-1 win:

Marseille Punished for Missed Chances - Match Centre

Marseille arrived at Brest on Sunday afternoon on a strong run of form. Didier Deschamps’ side were unbeaten in 16 games in all competitions and had failed to taste defeat in their last nine league matches but, despite dominating the game, slipped to a surprise loss.

Brest, to their credit, have proven to be no pushovers at home, with just a single defeat all season, but Marseille can only have themselves to blame. The visitors managed 65% possession, with Mathieu Valbuena, playing in the hole in a 4-2-3-1, setting up chance after chance for his team mates.

As the Player Position map shows, Valbuena (28) was pushed up right behind lone striker Brandao as Deschamps’ side took the game to their hosts. Valbuena had 102 touches – the most of any player - and made 58 passes, which was more than twice the amount of nine of the Brest players. The playmaker supplied an incredible 20 crosses, with an overall pass accuracy of 90%, and provided 6 key passes but, due to poor finishing from others, left empty-handed.

 
With so little of the ball, Brest sat deep and showed great desire to break up the opposition attacks. They made twice the number of tackles (38 to 19), with nine players making 2 or more tackles for the home side - an indication of the team ethos. Midfielders Ousmane Coulibaly and Dialo Guidileye, plus right-back Paul Baysse, all made 6 apiece in addition to 2 interceptions each. Marseille right-back César Azpilicueta proved to be the busiest amongst his back-four, with 4 tackles and 6 interceptions, while centre-half Nicolas N'Koulou also stood out, with 4 tackles, 4 interceptions, 6 clearances and 4 successful aerial duels.

Marseille’s inability to find the net is highlighted by each side’s respective shot count. The visitors had 22 efforts to their hosts’ 7, but managed just 5 on target to Brest’s 4. Five Marseille players fired off 3 or more shots, with Benoit Cheyrou the most culpable - the midfielder had 4 attempts, with only 1 on target. Brandao and replacement Andre Ayew had 6 shots between them but only a single effort on target.

For the home side, it was right-back Baysse who made the difference; he scored with 1 of his 2 attempts and, combined with the aforementioned defensive work, picked up the WhoScored man of the match award, with a rating of 8.34.

Lewandowski Brace Helps Down Hannover - Match Centre

There’s no doubt Hannover were up against it on Sunday afternoon. They may have boasted a nine-match unbeaten record but a visit to Dortmund saw them take on a team that had gone the previous 16 matches without defeat, in a run that had seen them drop just 6 points.

Hannover failed to prevail, but they didn’t go down without a fight. The away side edged possession with 51% - all the more impressive, given that Dortmund tend to boss home games, with an average of 55.5%. With the visitors attacking down the right side 54% of the time, it’s no surprise that right-back Steven Cherundolo made more passes (57) than any Hannover player, though his distribution wasn’t too impressive with a 74% pass accuracy, only 2 accurate crosses and a single key pass.

A look at Dortmund’s top three players for passes shows the creative difference between the two sides. Shinji Kagawa (48 passes) Jakub Blaszczykowski (43) and Lukasz Piszczek (42) made 10 key passes between them, with Blaszczykowski, in particular, standing out. The right winger had 66 touches, produced 8 crosses and, from 4 key passes, picked up a couple of assists.

The tackle count was almost dead-even, with Dortmund just edging it by 20 to 19. Mats Hummels was as solid as ever in the heart of Dortmund’s back-four, with 4 tackles, 3 interceptions and 5 clearances, while Lukasz Piszczek also supplemented his above-mentioned creativity with 3 tackles and a couple of interceptions from right-back. 

For the visitors, Emanuel Pogatetz was the stand-out defensively, with 4 tackles, 5 interceptions, 15 clearances and 4 successful aerial duels at centre-half summing up his busy afternoon. Manuel Schmiedebach made 4 tackles and 3 interceptions but, while his work-rate impressed, it forced him to drop deeper than anticipated. Stationed behind the front duo in a 4-3-1-2, as the Player Position map shows, Schmiedebach (13) was, on average, as deep as defensive midfielder Sergio Pinto (7) when in possession - as a result, he made no key passes and had no shots, with no end result to his 5 successful dribbles.

Dortmund’s ability to create chances resulted in a tide of shots from the home side. Klopp’s men had 21 attempts (with 72% inside the Hannover box) in comparison to Hannover’s 7, with 6 on target to the visitors’ 2. Lone striker Robert Lewandowski was the main goal threat - a total of 6 shots brought 2 on target and a couple of goals for the Pole. This brought his tally to 16 for the season and earned Lewandowski the WhoScored man of the match award, with a rating of 9.24. Left-back Marcel Schmelzer was somewhat wayward in his shooting for the hosts, however - all 5 of his efforts were off target.

For Hannover, Mame Biram Diouf was afforded the most opportunities. The forward failed to fire, though, with all 3 of his shots off target. Diouf was the only away player to muster more than a single attempt, with sub Didier Ya Konan’s goal just before the hour mark proving no more than a mere consolation as Dortmund extended their run to seventeen unbeaten.