No assist was awarded in Fantasy Premier League for Manchester City’s second goal, scored by Erling Haaland in the 3-0 win over Brentford in Gameweek 35, despite Haaland receiving the ball after a touch from a team-mate.
Antoine Semenyo’s dribble and cross took a deflection off Brentford’s Nathan Collins before a second inadvertent touch off the back of Omar Marmoush sent the ball into Haaland’s path.
Watch Haaland’s goal
While Semenyo could not be credited with a Fantasy assist, why was Marmoush also not awarded one?
Haaland’s initial effort was saved by Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. Haaland attempted to backheel the ball goalwards, but this shot was saved and then rebounded back to him to score with a second attempt.
The rules state:
“No assist will be awarded when a player scores from a second attempt after their initial shot is blocked, saved or hits the woodwork.”
As a result, no assist was awarded to Marmoush.
A “TBC” status was initially put out on social media by the matchday team at Stockley Park as Opta analysts reviewed footage of the goal.
Determining the type and sequence of touches is crucial to awarding an assist. Opta analysts will consult several camera angles as well as going through the footage frame-by-frame.
Why Gross did get a Fantasy assist
An assist was awarded at Amex Stadium for Brighton & Hove Albion’s third goal, scored by Yankuba Minteh, despite the midfielder receiving the ball after a tackle by team-mate Pascal Gross which took a defensive touch.
As the ball did not go directly to Minteh and Gross’ action was not a pass, no assist was initially awarded.
Watch Gross’ assist for Minteh’s goal
As the rules state:
“For an inadvertent touch to count as an assist, it must lead directly to the goalscoring opportunity.”
However, when a player makes a tackle or interception, their intention with the touch could be to clear the danger, gain possession or pass to a teammate.
To better capture these moments, Opta applies three different touch types to a tackle or interception:
Clearance – when a player attempts to direct the ball away from all players with the tackle or interception.
Control – when a player attempts the tackle or interception to keep the ball close in order to take another touch.
Pass – when a player makes a tackle or interception and intends to direct the ball towards a team-mate.
After review, it was decided that Gross’ touch, while a tackle, also had the intention to find Minteh and was therefore classified as a touch-type pass.
Under the assist rules, a pass that receives one defensive touch before reaching the goalscorer inside the penalty area can still be awarded an assist.
The rules state:
“When a deflected pass is received inside the penalty area, an assist will be awarded if the recipient is the goalscorer.”
This is only the second time that touch type has influenced an assist decision. The first came this season in Gameweek 11, when Brentford hosted Newcastle United and the home side’s third goal. On that occasion, touch type pass came into play to rule out an assist.
Brentford’s Mathias Jensen played a forward pass to Reiss Nelson, before Malick Thiaw’s tackle sent the ball into the penalty area for Igor Thiago to score.
Watch Thiago’s goal
No assist was awarded to Jensen, despite his pass receiving one defensive touch before reaching Thiago inside the penalty area, because Thiaw’s tackle was deemed to be a touch type pass intended for team-mate Sven Botman.
As the rules state:
“No assist will be awarded if the pass receives two or more defensive touches or if the defensive touch is a pass.”
