Following a review of Tottenham Hotspur’s third goal against West Ham United in their 4-1 victory on Saturday 19 October 2024, no Fantasy assist will be awarded to Son Heung-min.
All points will update accordingly before the Gameweek ends, which is approximately one hour after the final match of the Gameweek.
What happened?
In the 55th minute, Son’s attempt on goal was saved by West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola into the path of team-mate Jean-Clair Todibo, who inadvertently directed the ball into the goal via a touch off Areola.
Initially, an own goal was accredited to Todibo. However, this was amended to an Areola own goal following a decision made by the Premier League Match Centre.
As a result of the change, no Fantasy assist was awarded for Son’s involvement in the goal pending a review.
Later in the day, a Fantasy assist was mistakenly applied to Son, followed by a post confirming this from the official Fantasy Premier League social media account, which was subsequently removed.
The assist was applied before the review process was complete and Fantasy Premier League apologises for the confusion caused.
What are the rules applied?
Working together with Stats Perform and matchday staff, a decision was made today to not award Son a Fantasy assist, applying the following rules.
Own goals
If a player shoots or passes the ball and directly forces an opposing player to put the ball in their own net, then an assist is awarded. If the pass or cross takes a significant deflection off an opposition player prior to their team-mate scoring an own goal, then no Fantasy assist is awarded.
Rebounds
If a shot at goal is blocked by an opposition player, saved by a goalkeeper, or hits the woodwork, and from the rebound a goal is scored, then a Fantasy assist is awarded. The shot does not have to be on target to result in a Fantasy assist. The action leading to the rebound can be a shot or a cross-shot, but not an intended cross or pass attempt, as determined by Stats Perform.
If a significant touch is made by an opposition player after the blocked effort, then no Fantasy assist is awarded.
Why hasn't an assist been given?
Shot rebounds can be rewarded with an assist in Fantasy if a goal is scored directly from the block, save or rebound off the woodwork. This ruling also applies to own goals.
However, if a significant touch is made by an opposition player after the blocked effort, then no assist is awarded.
Due to the goal being credited to Areola, the last significant touch prior to the own-goal scorer (Areola) was made by team-mate Todibo and not Son. Therefore, no assist can be awarded to the attacking player.
Examples of a 'shot rebound' assist for an own goal
Although a relatively rare event, recent examples include assists awarded to Brennan Johnson and Darwin Nunez.
In Newcastle United’s 2-1 win over Spurs in Gameweek 3 this season, Johnson was given an assist when his shot was saved by Nick Pope and Dan Burn inadvertently put the rebound into his own net.
Similarly, in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Leicester City in 2022/23, Nunez received an assist when his shot struck the post and led to the own goal from Wout Faes.
Why was Lucas Digne given an assist?
In Aston Villa’s 3-1 win at Fulham on Saturday, Issa Diop directed Lucas Digne’s cross towards his own net.
Despite goalkeeper Bernd Leno touching the ball on its way in, the own goal was credited to the Fulham defender and a Fantasy assist awarded to Aston Villa full-back Digne.
This is because the ball was not deflected off target by Diop before entering the goal via a touch from the goalkeeper.
As a result, the own goals rule was applied: "If a player shoots or passes the ball and directly forces an opposing player to put the ball in their own net, then an assist is awarded."