Quantitative Analysis of Goals Scored from Set Pieces: Turkey Super League Application

Abstract

Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of set-piece goals (throwin, corner, free kick and penalty) on competition results in the Turkey Super League over five seasons (2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011) based on realization time (0-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75 and 76-90), the status of being a home or away team, the kick area of the goals (12 penalty areas, 4 out of penalty areas) and striking technique (inside kick, inner side of instep kick, instep kick, outside kick, header and special skill). Additionally, we aim to analyze the association between the kicking area of goals and set-piece goal types, as well as between set-piece goal type and striking techniques. Material and Methods: A total of 3614 goals based on 1530 matches have been analyzed in this study. The distribution of set pieces has been investigated according to defined parameters. The frequency and percentage values of the data have been calculated using Microsoft Office Excel and chi-square test was used to calculate relations between variables. Results: The number of organized attack goals was 2594 (71.78%) and the number of setpiece goals was 1020 (28.22%) within the five seasons encompassing the 2006-2011 seasons. The highest number of set-piece goals were scored between the 76th and 90th minutes (n=221, 21.67%), from free kicks (n=404, 39.61%), from closest areas (n=606, 88.58%) and from headers (n=377, 37.06%). Conclusion: Based on our data, goals scored from set pieces have a remarkable effect on competition results; therefore, the importance of time interval, goal type, areas and kicking type of set-piece goals have been emphasized for coaches.