Jordan vs Algeria stats and analysis: Set pieces the difference as Les Fennecs survive in Group J

Jordan put up a great fight but couldn’t hold their 1-0 lead as Algeria came back to win 2-1.

Les Fennecs were heavily favoured but failed to meet expectations and had to dig deep in order to get the three points.

We must start with the most obvious and quickest part, but the most interesting development throughout the game was certainly how Jordan made Algeria work and nearly eliminated them from contention.

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Set pieces

Tonight’s script was rather common in the recently-ended Premier League season. Set pieces turning the game on its head and crowning a somewhat undeserved winner.

Of course, Algeria had better chances to score than Jordan even excluding the two corner kicks that led to their goals. Riyad Mahrez went one-on-one with Yazeed Abu Laila twice and one time couldn’t even get a shot off. The one he did, fired straight at the goalkeeper.

And though Mahrez looks nothing like the player we once saw grace English football grounds, he can still get good deliveries into the box.

Substitute target man Ahmed Benbouali got on the end of the cross and equalised. A few minutes later, Amine Gouiri’s effort was deflected twice before finding the back of the net.

There was even a third corner kick that could have ended in a goal, but Ibrahim Maza couldn’t direct the ball past the keeper in the 89th minute to make it 3-1.

Ironically, the dead-ball dynamic could have gone the other way. Right in the first minute, the first attempt of the game was a dangerous Nizar Al-Rashdan header from a free kick that Opta logged as a big chance.

Jordan’s sharp man-marking

Jordan made things interesting by striking first. But their out-of-possession work dictated most of the game even while it was still a goalless draw.

Their 5-4-1 formation when defending had mostly individual references and they worked their socks off to be multiple places at once. It’s how they neutralised Algeria’s wide men for long periods.

But one thing in particular stood out. Right-centre-back Abdallah Nasib was always chasing Fares Chaibi whenever he dropped deeper. The defender gave him no space to operate and often broke their five-man defensive line off.

While this can sometimes lead to a big gap in the half-space, the right-back was always there to cover. And with the two central midfielders often going head-to-head with Algeria’s double pivot a little further up the pitch, Nasib became a defensive midfielder between the lines, to some extent.

Jordan’s 5-4-1 often became an asymmetrical 4-1-4-1 that crowded the middle of the pitch and gave the opposing midfielders little room to operate.

At first, you could see Nasib hesitating when Chaibi dragged him too far out from his box. But as the game went on, he looked more comfortable chasing Algeria’s No.10 for long distances and it became one of the most important reasons why Les Fennecs couldn’t get anything going.

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Sloppy build-ups

Jordan had a lot of credit defensively, but their goal was just as awkward – or even more – than Algeria’s second.

And it came from one common theme throughout the match: Les Fennecs’ sloppy build-ups. That was the fourth time they simply gave away possession in their own half with the ball in play, immediately leading to a counter-attack.

Ramy Bensebaini of all people was responsible for two while Ramiz Zerrouki committed the other two – including the one that led to Al-Rashdan’s goal. Unsurprisingly, Vladimir Petkovic replaced him with Nabil Bentaleb during the half-time break, undoing the inexplicable change from the Argentina game to this one.

The lack of in-behind runs on Algeria’s behalf was glaring as well. Right-back Rafik Belghali had a poor performance but at least tried to stretch the opposing defensive line from time to time.

And the one man who managed to put Mahrez through on goal with over-the-top through balls, Hicham Boudaoui, had to be ‘sacrificed’ in order to make way for Benbouali to come in. It worked because he came off the bench and scored the equaliser, but there is more cohesion and sustainability to how they played with Boudaoui looking for runners in behind than relying on set pieces.

Jordan had little to threaten Algeria with, but Les Fennecs made their life much easier by just gift-wrapping them the ball. Good news is that those are easily avoidable mistakes that, if they clean up, will increase their chances against Austria.

But make no mistake: despite the final result, the 1-2 scoreline says more about how Jordan exceeded expectations and Algeria failed to meet theirs than heroically overcoming a one-goal deficit to keep their hopes of advancing alive.

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