Set Piece
A dead-ball restart, often analysed separately from open play.
Definition
Corners, free kicks, throw-ins, and penalties are set pieces. They are structured moments with a stopped ball and organised shapes. Chance quality, marking schemes, and delivery type matter as much as raw volume.
Many reports separate set-piece xG from open-play xG. That stops a corner or penalty from rewriting the live-ball story. On StarkPitch Match Analysis pages, teaching splits use StatsBomb labels conservatively. Shot type Penalty or Free Kick counts as a restart. Play patterns From Corner, From Free Kick, or From Throw In count as set-piece sequences. One successful routine can dominate a single-match set-piece total. Season-long trends are usually more stable than one-night spikes.
Caution
Do not fold set-piece outcomes into an open-play story without saying so. Keep the phase explicit. A corner goal still counts. Dismissing it as not real football is taste, not method.