Last Man

In football, the term last man refers to a situation wherein the attacking player owns the ball and is faced with one opposing defender standing between them and the goal. If the defender commits a foul against the attacking player, a red card is given as a penalty. This is often referred to as a professional foul.

The last man is considered a deliberate foul against an attacking player to prevent them from scoring a goal. The defender would deny the other player from scoring an obvious opportunity to make a goal by committing a professional foul. This kind of attack would usually result in a free kick or penalty kick to the attacking team. Despite the awarding of a free-kick, this act lowers the chance of scoring as compared to its original position during the play.