Half-space involvement in goal-scoring sequences in elite European football: a multi-league spatial analysis

Although spatial attacking patterns and goal-scoring areas have received considerable attention in football research, evidence on the role of Half-Space in goal-scoring sequences remains limited, particularly across multiple elite European leagues.

This study examined Half-Space involvement in successful goal-scoring sequences, focusing on goals and assists originating from predefined Half-Space zones in the attacking third across five UEFA-affiliated top-tier leagues during the 2021-2022 season.

A retrospective observational approach was adopted. The dataset comprised 1,826 matches and 4,647 coded goal-scoring events from the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French Ligue 1. Match events were coded using a predefined pitch segmentation framework, with Half-Space identified as the vertical channels located between the central and wide areas of the attacking third. Goals and assists were classified according to their zone of origin, pass type, tactical context, and finishing technique. Inter-rater agreement was evaluated using Cohen's kappa. Spatial distributions were summarized descriptively, with channel-adjusted values used to account for differences in the number of vertical channels represented by each spatial category. Relationships among categorical variables were assessed using chi-square tests, with Cramer's V reported as an effect-size measure.

Goal and assist involvement varied descriptively across spatial categories. Because the Half-Space and Wide Area categories each comprised two vertical channels whereas the Central category comprised one, channel-adjusted values were also considered when interpreting RQ1. Significant associations were observed among assist origin, goal location, pass type, finishing technique, and tactical context (all p < .001), with effect sizes ranging from moderate to large for several comparisons. Goal-zone distributions did not differ significantly across leagues (p = .316), whereas assist-zone distributions showed a statistically significant but very small league association (p = .005, Cramer's V = 0.045).

The results identify descriptive spatial characteristics of successful goal-scoring sequences in elite European football. Given that the analysis was restricted to successful scoring events and did not account for unsuccessful attacks, possession dynamics, or player-tracking data, the findings should be interpreted as descriptive rather than causal. These findings may assist post-match performance analysis and provide a foundation for future research incorporating tracking data and possession-adjusted metrics.