21/06/2009

Goal of the Season.

One thing that will stick in my mind from this season, aswell as the takeover, and Robinho arriving, and us being terrible away, and the mini-UEFA Cup run, will be the sheer number of great goals we managed to score. As fans we'll take any, i'm sure, but it's particularly nice to see a well-taken, well-crafted move, or a spectacular finish, and luckily we've had our fair share. I've tried to compile a top ten, it wasn't easy, several good goals missed out, like Didi Hamann's volley in the Faroes first game of the season, a couple from the maulings of Pompey and Hull, or Robinho's well-taken effort at Goodison. As you might expect the list is dominated by two players in particular...

10) Robinho v Blackburn, away, December.
Super-sub Danny Sturridge picks the ball up towards the right side, cuts in and spots a gap between two Blackburn defenders, slips through a perfect weighted pass, Robinho controls with one foot, slides home with the other to save the game.

9) Robinho v West Brom, home, April.
Ireland picks up the ball and bombs forward before clipping a lofted ball over the heads of the West Brom defence. Robinho volleys home with his weaker left foot without even breaking sweat.

8) Garrido v Liverpool, home, October.
Direct free-kick just to our right. Gary curls the ball over the wall and into the top corner. Reina didn't even move. Cracking stuff.

7) Ireland v Everton, away, April.
Much like the goal in Hamburg, Stevie makes up half the length of the pitch in seconds, latching onto a curled Robinho return ball and slotting past Howard.

6) SWP v Villa, home, March.
Ireland to SWP, back to Ireland and again to SWP, who curls home into the far bottom side. A perfect passing goal.

5) SWP v Aalborg, home, March.
Ireland wins the ball near the centre-spot, pick out SWP on the right who cuts inside the full-back, runs at the centre-half and smashes an unstoppable effort into the top corner.

4) Robinho v Twente, home, November.
Picks the ball up on the corner of the box, comes in onto his preferred right peg, wallops a smashing curling finish right into the far top corner, 'keeper stranded.

3) Ireland v Hamburg, away, April.
Superman, well inside his own half, whips a ball out to Robinho on the left flank and almost busts a lung to get onto the return pass before slotting home to give us an early lead. The fitness shown here is outstanding, and the speed, too, something that is probably not thought of has one of the primary assets of his game.

2) Ireland v Hull, away, November.
Receiving a cross from the left Ireland somehow controls the ball, opens his body and volleys into the far corner. Amazing technique. Had Bergkamp done that people would still be talking about it. Brilliant!

1) Robinho v Arsenal, home, November.
SWP collects the ball on the half-way line, runs with it, slides a perfect pass between two defenders for Robinho to control and effortlessly chip over the stranded Almunia. I'm still trying to fathom how he did this. To chip a moving ball like that takes some doing, i'd have thought. A truly fantastic finish.

Agree? Disagree?

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