The advantage of scoring just before the half-time break - pure myth? Quasi-experimental evidence from European football

We examine whether the moment just before the half-time break is a particularly good time to score a goal. Using detailed data from the top five European football leagues between the 2013-2014 and 2017-2018 seasons, we exploit the quasi-random occurrence of goals scored just before and just after the half-time break. In the former situation, the game is exogenously interrupted by a break immediately after the goal, whereas in the latter situation, the game continues without interruption. We show that in the case of a goal being scored just before halftime, the scoring team benefits more from the half-time break than the conceding team.
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Bibliographic Details
Subjects:
Notations:organisations and events management and organisation of sport sport games
Tagging:Halbzeit
Published in:Journal of Sports Economics
Language:English
Published: 2020
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/1527002520913102
Volume:21
Issue:5
Pages:548-565
Document types:article
Level:advanced