Those unflattering bookies odds, as far as Swansea were concerned, were probably also an indication that the feeling was that Balotelli, the mercurial yet inconsistent genius, would possess too much flair and ability for Williams, a far more reserved, reliable and dare I say it, underrated player. I should clarify that last comment of course, I mean underrated by all those east of Offa’s Dyke, for in Swansea, Ashley Williams is not underrated in the slightest and is instead revered as simply one of the finest central defenders Swansea City has ever had in its long history. Arguably the finest.
He proved that again yesterday, whilst also proving to be much more than a match for Balotelli in their personal duel, especially when we look at the match statistics of the pair.
Williams undertook 72 passes, completing 83.33% of them. Balotelli attempted almost 50 less than Williams, with only 21 of his 27 passes – 77.78% – finding their mark. If I also tell you that Swansea’s own lone striker, Danny Graham, enjoyed an 80.95% success rate with his 21 passes, added to the fact that he actually spent 11 minutes less on the field than Balotelli, then that too tells its own story of the Italian’s ineffectiveness.
The tone for the battle between Williams and Balotelli however, was set in the first minute of the match, when a ball was played in behind Swansea right back, Angel Rangel, for Balotelli to chase. Sensing the danger, sprinting across from the centre of defence came Williams, beating Balotelli to the ball, and nicking it out for a throw. That was the first of Williams’ nine ground 50/50 challenges, of which he won 78%. Again, compare that to Balotelli’s 41% success rate in his ground 50/50’s and a picture of Williams’ dominance begins to emerge.
But there was worse to come for Balotelli, suffering Williams’ complete aerial supremacy over him during the match. In his five aerial 50/50’s of the day, Williams won 80% of them. But in the three challenges that featured Balotelli, Williams won them all. Balotelli’s aerial success rate during the game, sadly, probably mirrored his contribution to it, 0%.
One positive for the Italian was that he won both his tackles of the day – not against Williams I should add who also won all three of his – and made two interceptions, and embarked on three dribbles. In terms of leaving his mark on the game, that’s probably not what a Man City fan would want from their £18.5m striker.
More on page 3: Match Stats continued…
