Analysis of goals scored in England after the 90th minute.

We previously looked at how overall play has been affected by the increase in injury time in Europe’s top leagues: England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France. The results turned out to be interesting figures describing, among other things, the development of individual matches, the intensification of intrigues and the dramatic outcome in them. But let’s try to focus on the English championship, which has much more stoppage time and, above all, goals at the end of the game.

It is worth mentioning that in the first 12 rounds of the English championship, 38 goals were scored in stoppage time. While in the previous three seasons, on average across the entire championship, 56 goals were scored in injury time. The pace of the current championship is impressive. More than ten percent of all goals in matches are scored after the 90th minute.

Who benefits?

When football moved from three to five substitutions in Covid times, there was a strong view that this was beneficial to wealthy clubs who simply had greater squad depth. All other things being equal in terms of the number of substitutions, they have the best chance of refreshing the team with stronger players during the match. When your fourth or fifth substitution is a player worth one hundred million euros, you have an advantage over your opponent, who is forced to take a player from his youth team as a fourth or fifth substitution.

But gradually everyone came to terms with the five-substitution rule and never returned to this topic again. However, in the same way, you can think about increasing the duration of the games. It should also benefit the top clubs, as one might assume. After all, they still have fresher and stronger players on the pitch. Weak opponents, even if they have somehow miraculously managed to cling to a draw or victory, are forced to react longer; with each additional minute, the chances of maintaining a lead become smaller. But this belongs to the category of theory. What does the practice show? She confirms this thesis!

IN nuclear submarine Of the 38 goals scored in injury time, 18 were scored by the so-called “Big Six” clubs, which include Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham. Goals that changed the outcome are also more significant. Of the 16 such goals, ten were scored by Big Six clubs. True, three of them happened against other clubs in the same category.

In the previous three seasons, the Big Six averaged 10 injury-time goals that changed the outcome every 38 rounds. And this season the figure has already been reached in 12 rounds. Even from a small sample of 120 games, it is clear that extra time has been a rich source of points for the Premier League’s top clubs.

In fact, until Wolves failed to score twice in stoppage time against Tottenham, none of the Big Six teams had dropped points in stoppage time against a non-Big Six team.

Briefly in numbers

You can count how many points have been won by different clubs nuclear submarine thanks to the goals that changed the result in injury time. Manchester United and Tottenham scored five points each thanks to such goals scored, Liverpool and Wolverhampton – three each, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Sheffield United – two each.

But there were also defeats, and even those of the clubs themselves. So Tottenham, Sheffield United and Brentford lost three points each, but Luton suffered the most, minus four points in stoppage time. Bournemouth and Manchester City are two minus.

Of the 16 injury-time goals that changed the outcome, ten came from Big Six clubs in just eight matches. Three of them were scored in matches between these teams. Seven goals brought victories for the Big Six clubs over teams not included in this number. The home team scored 12 goals.

The late goal that changed the result was scored by Tottenham midfielder Dejan Kulusevski at the end of the 100th minute of the match against Sheffield United (2:1). Spurs are generally masters of dramatic finals. They scored three goals in total, which were scored in stoppage time and changed the result in their favor. Manchester United have the same number. This is the best in the league. Liverpool and Wolverhampton have two of these goals. Let us also remember that both “wolves” scored against the same “spurni”. Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United have each scored such a goal.

Longer games

We have already talked about some average recovery values ​​in the English Championship. On average added to nuclear submarine 11 minutes and 35 seconds into the games, which is four minutes more than in previous seasons. But there were games that stood out significantly from this series. Here are the longest games of the season:

Fulham – Sheffield United – 3:1 – 113 minutes 54 seconds

A serious injury to a Sheffield player has caused all this recovery time. 14 minutes were added in the first half alone. It should be noted that there was a goal in injury time – Fulham scored the third goal.

Aston Villa – Crystal Palace – 3:1 – 112 minutes and 2 seconds

Birmingham won the very long game, scoring twice in stoppage time. Moreover, the first of these was scored from the spot, which required a VAR review. So the delay in the game is understandable.

Tottenham-Chelsea-1:4-111 minutes and 15 seconds

With frequent VAR calls, red cards and injuries, you can understand why this derby has lasted so long. Furthermore, Chelsea scored two goals in injury time, securing the victory.

Tottenham – Sheffield United – 2:1 – 109 minutes 15 seconds

All three goals of the match were scored in stoppage time. The game happened early in the season when they added a lot of overtime.

Aston Villa-Everton – 4:0 – 108 minutes and 3 seconds

Another match played at the beginning of the season. And the only one in this series in which no goals were scored after the 90th minute.