Away goals rule

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Away goals)
Jump to: navigation, search

The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. By the away goals rule, the team that has scored more goals (points, baskets) "away from home" will win if scores are otherwise tied. This is sometimes expressed by saying that away goals "count double" in the event of a tie[1].

The away-goals rule is most often invoked in two-legged fixtures, where the initial result is determined by the aggregate score — i.e. the scores of both games are added together. In many competitions, the away goals rule is the first tie-breaker for such cases, with a penalty shootout as the second tie-breaker if each team has scored the same number of away goals. Rules vary as to whether the away goals rule applies at the end of normal time of the second leg, or after extra time, or (most commonly) after both.

The away goals rule is intended to encourage the away team to be more aggressive. However, players and managers sometimes state before a home leg that 'it is vital for us not to concede a goal', so the home team may play more defensively than usual.

The away goals rule is applied in many football competitions that involve two-legged fixtures, including the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup, and any two-legged playoffs used in qualification for the FIFA World Cup or European Championships.

Not all competitions use the away goals rule. For example, before 2005, CONMEBOL used neither the away goals rule nor extra time in any of its competitions, such as the Copa Libertadores. Ties that were level on aggregate went to an immediate penalty shootout. The away goals rule (without extra time) was introduced to the Copa Libertadores in 2005. In Latin America, an example of a tournament that always has used this rule is Copa do Brasil (Brazilian Cup).

In English football, two-legged fixtures in the League Cup are only subject to the away goals rule after extra time; even if one team leads on away goals after 90 minutes of the second leg, extra time is played regardless.

The semi-finals of the promotion playoffs in the Football League, despite being two-legged, ceased to employ the away goals rule from 2000. As away goals scored in extra time counted double, the side finishing lower in the league gained an advantage by playing away in the 2nd leg, thus giving them 30 more minutes to score an away goal. The rescindment of the away goals rule has affected the results of several play-off semi-finals.

The away goals rule is sometimes used in round robin competitions (i.e. leagues or qualifying groups), where it may be used to break ties involving more than two teams. For example, in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, away goals are the sixth tiebreaker,[2] and away goals are the third tiebreaker in the group stage of both the UEFA Champions League[3] and UEFA Cup.[4] Because other tiebreakers take precedence, the away goals rule is rarely invoked in such tournaments. In many group tournaments, the away goals rule is never applicable; for example, in World Cup qualification[5].

If the two clubs contesting a two-legged fixture share the same stadium, each club is the home club in one leg, and the rule still applies. In many such cases, most tickets to each leg will be reserved for the "home" side's fans, so the designation is not simply arbitrary. More anomalous was a qualification play-off for the 1991 World Youth Championship between Australia and Israel: Australia won on away goals even though, due to security concerns arising from the First Intifada, Israel's "home" leg was played in Australia [6].

There has been at least one case of a wrong application of the away goals rule by a referee in an international club tournament. It happened during the second-round tie in the 1971–72 Cup Winners' Cup between Rangers and Sporting Lisbon. This fixture had the following scorelines:

  • First leg: Rangers 3–2 Sporting
  • Second leg, after 90 minutes: Sporting 3–2 Rangers
  • Second leg, after extra time: Sporting 4–3 Rangers

Since the teams were now level 6–6 on aggregate, the referee ordered a penalty shootout, which Sporting won 3–0. However, Rangers appealed the loss on the grounds that the referee should not have ordered the shootout, since the Rangers goal in extra time in Lisbon gave them a lead of 3 away goals to 2. Rangers won the appeal and went on to win the Cup Winners' Cup that season.

In another example of the strangeness of the rule, the 2003 UEFA Champion's League Semi-finals drew Inter Milan and A.C. Milan. Both teams play their home games at San Siro, but one team had to be declared a home team and the other a visitor in the two matches.

  • First leg: A.C. Milan 0–0 Inter Milan
  • Second leg: Inter Milan 1–1 A.C. Milan

With an aggregate of 1–1, and both teams playing both games at their home field, A.C. Milan was declared the winner because they were the "away" side in the second game.

  1. ^ For example Regulations, 2006 FIFA World Cup (PDF) 6. FIFA (May 2003). Retrieved on 2006-11-19. “If both teams score the same number of goals in both matches, the goals scored away will be counted as double.”
  2. ^ Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference: WOMEN’S SOCCER OPERATING CODE (MS Word). Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (2006-08-23). Retrieved on 2006-11-19. “The following criteria shall be used in order to break any tie(s) in the selection process:
    1. Head to Head competition results between tied teams.
    2. Record against teams not involved in a tie, starting at the top of the standings.
    3. Goal differential between tied teams.
    4. Fewest goals allowed between tied teams
    5. Goals scored
    6. Away goals scored
    7. Win-Lost record against common opponents outside the PSAC (non-PSAC opponents)
    8. A coin flip will occur to break ties between tied teams for PSAC playoffs after other tie breakers have been used.”
  3. ^ Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2006-07, Rule 4.05 (PDF). UEFA (March 2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-11. “If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
    a) higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
    b) superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
    c) higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question;
    d) superior goal difference from all group matches played;
    e) higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
    f) higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.”
  4. ^ Regulations of the UEFA Cup 2006-07, Rule 4.06 (PDF). UEFA (March 2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-11. “If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
    a) superior goal difference from all group matches played;
    b) higher number of goals scored;
    c) higher number of goals scored away;
    d) higher number of wins;
    e) higher number of away wins;
    f) higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons.”
  5. ^ Regulations, 2006 FIFA World Cup, page 6: "In the league system the ranking in each group is determined as follows:
    (a) greater number of points obtained in all the group matches;
    If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above criterion, their ranking shall be determined as follows:
    (b) greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
    (c) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
    (d) greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
    (e) goal difference in all the group matches;
    (f) greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
    (g) a play-off on neutral ground."
  6. ^ Oceania U-20 World Cup 1991 Qualifiers
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Away_goals_rule"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.