(I asked this in the World Cup thread, but the discussion swept right on by.)
I heard a guy assert that in high-level football, the team that scores first rarely loses. It’s easy to believe, but what are the statistics?
My specific question would be: What are percentages for:
Games in which the team to score first wins
Games that are drawn
Games in which the team that scores first is the loser
These stats should exclude scoreless games; games decided by penalty kicks should count as draws.
Perhaps another question is: what percentage of games see a lead change?
Is there any standard source for this sort of trivia?
Standard source? The bloke next to you. Football fans always amaze me with their memories. After the SA goalie was sent off I said - well, I wonder when was the last time a goalie got a red card. Cue bloke at the bar "well, the last time I remember was in European Cup Winners Cup, in what? 2002, 14 minutes into the second half etc etc I’ve made up his response there, because I can’t remember what he actually said but you get the idea.
The last one I remember very clearly (although there have certainly been others) was Jens Lehmann in the 2006 Champions League Final getting sent off for Arsenal. Made even more dramatic because Arsenal actually scored to take the league before half-time after being reduced to 10 men, but ended up losing to Barcelona 2-1.
A player for Uruguay had the ball in front of the net with no defensemen around, and made a move on the keeper, so the keeper just slid and took him out in front of the goal.
Pardon my American-ish. I’m sure this would sound better coming from a Brit.
Yep. Automatic send off for “Denying an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity” (DOGSO among officials)
And when Mexico scored today, ESPN flashed a graphic saying that the team scoring first in the WC wins 70% of the time, though no breakdown of draws and PK wins.
I still don’t think it was DOGSO. He was, like the General Belgrano, heading away from the area of conflict, and the ball was running away from him. Imagine that the keeper didn’t foul him – I doubt that he would “obviously” have scored. Looked to me more like one of the many defenders in the area would have collected the ball and blasted it 50 yards forwards.
I think that was the first time (and thus far only time) a 'keeper had ever been sent off in a European Cup/Champions League final, although keepers have been sent off in earlier stages of that tournament.
Also in 2006, the goalkeeper for Turkey was sent off in one of the group games of Euro '06. What made that red card all the more hilarious was that Turkey had used up all 3 of their subs by that point, so Tuncay–who normally plays as a striker or midfielder–had to take the keeper’s place in goal.
There have certainly been goalkeeper red cards in less high-profile matches since 2006, but I can’t think of any memorable ones off the top of my head.