They scored too early

The first goal is one of the most important milestones in a soccer game. It can give a boost of energy and confidence to the scoring team and add pressure to the conceding team making them prone to concede again. One might deduce that scoring the first goal as quickly as possible is ideal, but the data suggests otherwise.

If a player scores early their team can relax and perhaps even play better to score more goals. Scoring early can also make the opponents immediately nervous hence more likely to make more mistakes that will allow a team to score again.

But scoring early can also be good for the opponents. A team might relax because of the lead and invite pressure from a determined opponent, who knows that they have plenty of time to comeback.

The chances of winning the game if a player scores the first goal very late in the game are very high, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that a team should purposefully wait to score late, since that allows the opponents to score first. Perhaps one of the most actionable insights of the analysis is that the first few minutes of the second half are very crucial. Teams should be extra careful not to concede.