Konyaspor 0-0 Başakşehir: Shomurodov's 0.68 xG Goes Unrewarded as Visitors Waste Set-Piece Edge

Konyaspor and Başakşehir shared the points in a 0-0 Super Lig draw at the Medaş Konya Büyükşehir Stadyumu, a result that flatters neither side's attacking output but leaves the visitors ruing a set-piece return that should have produced more than a clean sheet.

Both teams lined up in 4-2-3-1, and the symmetry of the shapes produced a first half of matched pressing and mirrored build-up. Konyaspor held 52% of the ball before the break and out-shot Başakşehir 4-1, but the chance quality told the opposite story: the visitors generated 0.53 xG to the hosts' 0.28, almost all of it from dead balls.

That split is the match in miniature. Konyaspor finished with 55% possession, 9 shots to 7, and 3 shots on target to Başakşehir's zero. They also won more corners in open play terms and matched the visitors in the box, 9 touches to 6. Yet the expected-goals ledger read 0.42 to 1.08 in Başakşehir's favour, because 0.91 of the visitors' total arrived from set plays against just 0.11 for the hosts.

Eldor Shomurodov was the match's leading individual threat, accumulating 0.68 xG across his involvement. That figure alone accounts for more than half of Başakşehir's entire match total and dwarfs every other player on the pitch. Marko Jevtović registered 0.01 xG, Deniz Türüc 0.07, Ivan Brnić 0.02, and Rayyan Baniya 0.07 — a collective 0.17 between four players who saw meaningful attacking involvement.

The gap between Shomurodov's output and the rest of the attacking cast is the clearest signal of where Başakşehir's threat actually lived. He was the reference point, the player the visitors' structure funnelled toward, and the one whose chances carried genuine weight. That none of it converted is the story of the visitors' afternoon.

The tactical trade-off was stark. Başakşehir's open-play xG came to just 0.17 across the full 90, with 0.00 of that in the first half. Their entire first-half threat — 0.53 xG — was built on set plays. Konyaspor, by contrast, generated 0.31 of their 0.42 from open play, more than the visitors managed in total from live sequences.

That inversion explains why the hosts could dominate possession, shots, and shots on target while still trailing on the underlying numbers. Konyaspor's 345 accurate passes at 80% and 134 passes in the opposition half gave them control, but control without a cutting edge. They managed zero big chances across the match. Başakşehir managed two.

Başakşehir's 40 duels won to Konyaspor's 31, and their 11 fouls to the hosts' 8, reflect a side willing to break up play and compete physically for the right to launch set pieces. With no yellow cards shown to either team, the match was contested cleanly, but the visitors' willingness to concede fouls in neutral areas fed the dead-ball supply that produced their best moments.

Konyaspor will take encouragement from a second-half performance in which they pushed possession to 58% and out-passed Başakşehir 166 to 107 at 81% accuracy. They created five second-half shots to the visitors' six but could not turn territorial control into a clear sight of goal. Their 0.14 second-half xG was actually lower than their first-half return, a sign that the increased ball share came without increased penetration.

Başakşehir's second-half set-piece xG of 0.38 kept them dangerous without ever finding the finish. Shomurodov's 0.68 xG will be the number that lingers — a personal tally that deserved a goal and a team total that did not deliver one.

For Konyaspor, the unbeaten run continues without the win that would have given it real momentum. For Başakşehir, the away point is solid but the set-piece return of 0.91 xG for zero goals is the kind of waste that decides seasons. Both managers will look at the same sheet and see different problems: the hosts need a finisher, the visitors need to stop relying on dead balls to carry their attack.