Seven goals, one wild night, and an xG chart that tells a very different story to the final score. Napoli edged Bodø/Glimt 4-3 in the Champions League, but the expected-goals numbers suggest the visitors were the better side for long stretches: Bodø/Glimt posted 2.88 xG to Napoli's 1.52.
The gap between chances and goals
A swing of 1.36 xG in Bodø/Glimt's favour is not a small margin in a match decided by one goal. On the balance of chances created, the Norwegian side did enough to leave with something, if not all three points. Instead they conceded four and leave with nothing.
Napoli's finishing, or perhaps Bodø/Glimt's profligacy in front of goal, made up the difference. Four goals from 1.52 expected is a significant overperformance, the kind of night where the scoreboard and the shot map simply do not match.
A result that flatters the hosts
None of this erases the final score. Napoli collected the win and the points that come with it, and in a competition built on results rather than underlying metrics, that is all that will be remembered in the table. But the 2.88 to 1.52 xG split is a reminder that this was closer, and arguably more fortunate, than a 4-3 scoreline across seven goals might suggest.
Bodø/Glimt will point to the chances they created as evidence they belong in this kind of fixture. Napoli, for their part, will simply bank the three points and move on, aware that the data says they rode their luck as much as they earned it.