This happened last season against Stoke when Dempsey hit a cracking shot which was tipped onto the bar by Sorensen I think it was, and rebounded in off the back of him. Unfortunately it was credited as an OG and I fear Ruiz's will be also.
It should always be an own goal if it wouldn't have been on target without the intervention of a defender. Before it hit Howard it was travelling away from the goal - it's indisputably an own goal. Howard's my fantasy football keeper, so I have a vested interest in it not being given as an og, but even I can see it can only be given as one. It is a far more blatant og than our first goal against Southampton, when the defender diverted an only-just-wide shot into the net, and we all accepted that as an own goal. It's desperately unlucky for Howard (and my fantasy football side!) but given the amount of money placed on 'first scorer' bets these days, they have to have crystal clear guidelines for determining these things.
I wouldn't say it's exactly blatant! It was on target when Ruiz struck it, but it's difficult to see (in the instance, without endless slo-mo replays) whether Howard palms it onto the post, then into the goal or if it hits Howard. Of course this isn't what happened, but you can see how the situation can cause confusion, especially if you didn't know if Howard was over or on the line when it hit him.
Congratulations Craven112. The 'Dubious Goals Panel' have adjudged that Bryan's free kick was NOT an o.g. So scorer of Fulham's 500th PL goal goes to .. Bryan Ruiz !!
It's an honour to win this prestigious award. I would like to thank my fans for always being there for me and I would like to thank wait what this ain't an Oscar? ooooohhhhh ok. Lucky guess then lol.
Does this mean Fantasy Football points go to Ruiz and aren't counted against Howard? I only ask because Howard was my goalkeeper at the time!
Mine too, and the own goal put me out of a cup competition in our league. I think Fantasy League has a rule that subsequent rulings on things like this aren't corrected retrospectively. In FL terms, it's still a Howard own goal. I feel your pain, Bandit.
I think my FF team is cursed anyway. The week we drew with Arsenal, I took out Berbatov (two goals, one assist) and put in Arteta (Missed penalty) and last week's game against Sunderland, I brought in Riise (three goals conceded) Berbatov (No goal) and Kacaniklic (injured early)
