Away Goal Rule

Wenger proposes that away goals only count after extra time. May seem like sour grapes, but he says he has been fighting for this for some time. Says it was introduced in the sixties to encourage attacking play in second leg, but he feels it is out of date and has too big an influence on final result. What do you think?

 

No self interest then?
I see his point but everyone knows the rules and you have to play to those rules which have been in place for many years to stop away teams simply parking the bus

 

What had a bigger influence on Arsenal's exit was their allowing Monaco to score 3 goals at the Emirates. If they had a decent defence they would have gone through. I like the away goals rule, it gives the away team something to play for in an often hostile environment.

 

Much as I dislike Mourinho, thought it was harsh they went out on away goals scored IN extra time. I mean, extra time at PSG's ground wasnt possible, so PSG effectively had 30 mins of extra opportunity to get them.

 

The CL just wouldn't be the same without the away goals rule.

 

I remember Saints going out of the play offs at Derby on pens - if away goals had counted , we`d have gone through. Bah.

 

This is spot on and away goals shouldn't include extra time.

 

I think it was also introduced because of the expense and logistical nightmare of rearranging a replay for European teams, at one time a tied two-leg game could be decided by the toss of a coin...ulp.

 

Didn't Saints once suffer this fate in the old Fairs Cup? Vague memory. But of course, primarily it was introduced to encourage away teams to score, and let's face it - it works. I don't see the argument for changing things, and would like to see it extended to other competitions. As the poster above points out, we'd have beaten Derby a few years back with the away goals. Oh and Watford's 5-1 full time score against us in the old League Cup when we'd won the first leg 4-0 wouldn't have been enough.and that infamous 7-1 would never have happened! Self interest rules.

 

Yep. And we'd probably hold the Premier League lowest points record.

 

And effectively a goal they scored would count double, doesn't really seem fair.

 

Honestly never considered that before. What an excellent point..! One could only assume that the rule makers must have considered this and thought the advantage is cancelled out by the effect that the home side have the advantage of playing on their own ground. Must admit, on the face of it, your point is extremely valid though.

And as FLT points out, the way to get round this semi Heath-Robinson arrangement is to stop counting away goals after normal time, in the event of a draw.

 

And all becuase George Burley had campaigned AGAINST away goals after losing out on them a year or two before....

 

The best has to be Celtic's 3-0 default win against Legia last year when they played a suspended player, after losing the first leg 4-1.

 

It might well be in self interest for Wenger, but I definitely agree with it. It's a stupid rule. Can anyone actually offer a logical reason why we persist with it? I see none, but we're so used to the away goal rule that we don't question it in the slightest, we just take it as a an unchangeable part of the game as lines on the pitch, for instance.

In both Chelsea-PSG and Arsenal-Monaco matches, both teams scored the same number of goals. Why on earth should it matter where they were scored? Monaco and Arsenal scored three goals each, so they're on level. Proceed to penalty shootout, simple as.

 

Have to say I agree. I have never liked the away goal rule and would be happy to see it done away with. I would rather see extra time and penalties.

 

I'm not a big fan of the away goal rule. I can see the reasoning behind the complaints.

But if you play extra time, the team at home for the second leg gets an advantage, don't they? And PK's are never that satisfactory as a way to settle things other than as a last resort. Plus again, one side will have home crowd support.

So in the end, I still like it better than other options.

 

I only like the away goal rule if it helps us

 

I can't think of one occasion when it has.

 

That Watford game ended 5-1? Wow, in all these years I didn't know that. I just remember checking the newspaper the following morning (I had gone to bed the evening before, so wasn't even allowed to listen on the radio) and seeing we lost 7-1 and Watford had got our 1..... I feel slightly better after all these years, that they needed extra time.

*very slightly better*