How Goals and Assists Are Credited: Own Goals, Deflections and Disputed Goals
A goal is a goal on the scoreboard, but deciding which player scored it, or whether anyone gets an assist, is not always simple. Here is how goals and assists are usually credited, and why the numbers you see can occasionally change after the final whistle.
Normal goals
The goal is credited to the last attacking player who touched the ball before it crossed the line. Headers, shots and even accidental touches off an attacker's body all count for that attacker. Goals from penalties count too, but goals in a penalty shoot-out do not. See shoot-out rules.
When is it an own goal?
An own goal is given when a defending player puts the ball into their own net. With deflections, the usual test applied by leagues and data providers is:
- If the original shot was on target (it would have gone in anyway), the goal usually goes to the shooter, even if a defender deflected it.
- If the original shot or cross was off target and the defender's touch sent it into the goal, it is usually an own goal.
Leagues may review disputed cases using video after the match and confirm the official scorer. This is why a goal can change from one player to another, or to an own goal, days later.
What counts as an assist?
There is no assist rule in the Laws of the Game, so definitions come from leagues and data companies. Common practice:
- An assist is the final pass or touch by a team-mate that leads directly to the goal.
- A pass that is deflected by an opponent can still count if it reaches the scorer, though providers differ.
- Earning a penalty or a free kick that leads to a goal may or may not count, depending on the provider. Some fantasy football games award extra assists in these situations that official statistics do not.
- There is no assist for an own goal in most official statistics.
Because definitions vary, the same player can have slightly different assist totals on different websites.
Why stats change after a match
- Scorer corrections: a goal first given to one player is reassigned after review.
- Data feed updates: live data is entered at speed and checked afterwards.
- Awarded results: if organisers award a match to one team, individual goals may still stand in player records depending on the competition.
Expected assists (xA)
Some advanced statistics measure the quality of passes that lead to shots. Expected assists (xA) give a pass the expected goals value of the shot that followed, rewarding creators even when a team-mate misses. Read about xG in our match statistics guide.
On EHScore
Goals appear in each match's Events tab, with own goals marked (OG) and penalties marked (P). Each competition's Top Scorer tab shows goals and assists from our data provider, which applies its own consistent rules across all competitions.