Alright folks, let me tell you about my little investigation into whether a penalty counts as a shot on target. It’s one of those football arguments that always pops up down the pub, and I figured it was time to get to the bottom of it.
The Setup
First off, I needed to define my terms. What is a shot on target? We’re talking about an attempt on goal that either goes into the net or would have gone into the net but was saved by the goalkeeper. Simple, right? But penalties muddy the waters.
Digging Around
- Official Rules: I started by hitting up the official rulebooks. The Laws of the Game, FIFA regulations, Premier League rules – the whole shebang. Scoured ’em. Found zilch that explicitly said “penalties count” or “penalties don’t count.” Helpful, eh?
- Stats Sites: Next, I went to the big football stats websites. Opta, StatsBomb, the usual suspects. Tried to see how they recorded penalties in their data. This was trickier than I thought! Some sites didn’t make it clear, some had conflicting info.
- Football Forums: Ah, the wild west of the internet. Jumped into a few football forums and got ready for the fireworks. Turns out, it’s a hotly debated topic. Loads of opinions, not a lot of concrete evidence.
My “Experiment”
So, I decided to do my own little bit of data analysis. I grabbed the match reports from a handful of Premier League games. Looked at the total shots on target in each game, then cross-referenced that with the number of penalties awarded and scored. I figured if the total shots on target consistently included penalties, there’d be a pattern. Get it?
The Messy Middle
This is where it got messy. The data was inconsistent. Sometimes the total shots on target looked like it included penalties, sometimes it didn’t. And even when it did, it was hard to be sure. Maybe that penalty was a screamer into the top corner that would have counted anyway? Argh!
The (Sort Of) Conclusion
Okay, after all that, here’s what I reckon. Officially, there’s no clear-cut rule. BUT, from what I could gather, most major stats providers seem to treat a penalty that goes in as a shot on target. It makes sense, right? It’s a deliberate attempt to score that ends up in the net.
The Caveats
Here’s the catch: it’s not universally applied. Some commentators, some smaller stats sites, might not count them. And that’s why the argument keeps going! So, next time you’re debating this in the pub, remember this: it’s complicated. Maybe just order another pint instead.
Final Thoughts
This whole thing was a bit of a rabbit hole, to be honest. I spent way more time on it than I planned. But hey, at least I can now confidently say “it depends!” when someone asks me if a penalty counts as a shot on target. And that, my friends, is a victory of sorts.
