Down To Ten
Empoli
Empoli played the closing 31 minutes a man down after a 59′ dismissal.
- Sent off
- 59′
- Player
- Joseph Ceesay
Serie B · Matchday 1Empoli
S. Shpendi 21'
1 – 0
FT
HT 1–0
Cremonese
Serie B
Matchday 1Empoli1–0Cremonese
1.04
Expected goals
0.82
21′59′
Shot-by-shot xG is not available for this fixture, so the race is shown as full-time totals: EMP 1.04, CRE 0.82.
Match report
Empoli 1-0 Cremonese
Empoli edged out Cremonese 1-0 at Carlo Castellani in Serie B. Shpendi opened the scoring for Empoli on 21'.
Expected goals finished Empoli 1.04, Cremonese 0.82. The scoreline is a fair reflection of who created more. Cremonese held 75.0% of the ball.
The game turned on a dismissal: Ceesay was sent off on 59', leaving Empoli 31 minutes to play a man short.
The numbers picked up more than the scoreline shows. Cremonese graded out for sterile domination — 75.0% possession and 2 on target. Empoli graded out for counter-punch — 25.0% possession and 1.04 expected goals.
Jacopo Seghetti came out of it with the best individual rating on the pitch, 7.6 for Empoli across 90 minutes.
It was a niggly afternoon: 28 fouls between them and 4 yellow cards, with Empoli conceding the most free-kicks (17).
Assembled by TackleZone from this fixture’s match events, team statistics and player ratings. Figures are as reported by the competition feed; where a statistic was not reported, it is left out rather than shown as zero. Longer written analysis is published for selected matches.
Quick stats
25%Possession75%
10Shots15
1.04xG0.82
What the numbers say
3 readsSterile Domination
Cremonese
Cremonese monopolised the game and still barely tested the goalkeeper.
- Possession
- 75.0%
- On target
- 2
- Passes
- 707
Counter-Punch
Empoli
Empoli were happy without the ball and still created more — 1.04 xG from 25.0% possession.
- Possession
- 25.0%
- Expected goals
- 1.04
- Opponent xG
- 0.82
Timeline
🟨16'
Jari Vandeputte
Foul
🔄19'
S. Elia ↑ M. Collocolo ↓
Stiven Shpendi · Goal confirmed
📺21'
S. Shpendi — assist: C. Cauz
⚽21'
🟨45+2'
Matteo Bianchetti
Foul
Half-time
B. Popov ↑ F. Di Stefano ↓
🔄57'
Joseph Ceesay
Professional foul last man
🟥59'
K. Zedadka ↑ S. Shpendi ↓
🔄63'
🔄65'
T. Berti ↑ Unknown ↓
🔄65'
M. Nasti ↑ M. De Luca ↓
S. Romagnoli ↑ E. Saporiti ↓
🔄77'
L. Belardinelli ↑ E. Biondini ↓
🔄77'
L. Deli ↑ G. Yepes ↓
🔄77'
🔄82'
Y. Rocchetti ↑ S. Luperto ↓
🟨85'
Federico Bonazzoli
Argument
Bogdan Popov
🟨90+4'
Match info
Kickoff
VenueCarlo Castellani, Empoli
RefereeParide Tremolada, Italy
CompetitionSerie B
Season2026
RoundMatchday 1
StatusMatch Finished