Diego Gomez’s incredible strike from the halfway line was the highlight of Brighton‘s 5-0 demolition of Crystal Palace on Sunday – and a contender for goal of the season.
On the back of that, we asked our experts for their favourite goal they have ever witnessed live…
MATT BARLOW: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden 4-2 England, 2012)
Zlatan’s overhead kick from about 35 yards for Sweden against England. Simply the most Zlatan moment you could imagine. The opening of a new stadium in Stockholm came with a general feeling of underappreciation in the media for Zlatan’s enduring qualities. Me included to be honest.
He had rarely turned it on against English opposition in the Champions League, but this was the night he scored four in a 4-2 win as the England choir serenaded him with a song comparing him unfavourably to Andy Carroll.
His fourth was an outrageous acrobatic finish not only from distance but also off centre, wide on the right with Joe Hart marooned out of his goal. Off came the shirt.
Asked by a gaggle of English reporters to rate his own career out of 10 after the game, Zlatan thought carefully for a moment or two and said, “10”. Nobody argued. Still makes me smile.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s amazing strike towards the end of the match sealed Sweden’s 4-2 win
JACK GAUGHAN: Phil Clarkson (Blackpool 2-1 Northampton, 1998)
A header has popped up in the direction of Clarkson. Six yards out, back to goal and with a defender touch tight. A goal down, Blackpool’s No 8 takes the knock down with the instep of his right foot, passing over to his left and then uses his left to impishly volleying a backheel with proper force into the corner.
Remarkably he watches the ball all the way and follows it into the net, pirouetting and almost breaking into an Eric Cantona celebration.
It’s Division Two (League One these days) – a moment of genius so far removed from its surroundings that it sticks in your mind for decades to come. Sat on a wall level with that penalty area, there was a seven-year-old going crazy who’d had a perfect view of the magic unfolding.
Hopefully in his second career, Clarkson delivers the post to the people of the Fylde Coast with the same panache.
JAMES SHARPE: Jamie Vardy (West Brom 1-4 Leicester, 2018)
As someone who has watched – and cheered – many a Jamie Vardy goal for Leicester over the years, you might think my pick of the bunch would be his glorious 30-yard volley against Liverpool in the title-winning season. Or the one to break Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record by scoring in 11 consecutive games. Or…never mind.
Belters, of course, but not the best nor my favourite. That one is saved for his ridiculous over-the-shoulder volley against West Brom in 2018, a strike that would be crowned Carling goal of the month and Leicester’s goal of the season.
Riyad Mahrez’s floating ball over the top, dropping over Vardy’s shoulder as he runs in behind and never break stride as he hooks it first-time – with his weaker left foot – straight into the bottom corner. I make a noise every time I watch it back. He makes it look ridiculously easy.
All from a man who Michael Owen once described as ‘not a natural finisher’.
Jamie Vardy’s volley levelled the game against West Brom and Leicester went on to win 4-1
IAN HERBERT: Paul Mullin (Wrexham 2-0 Stockport, 2022)
A 90th-minute goal which sent Paul Mullin running onto a ball sent from his own half into the left channel. He’d taken nine strides and was just outside the area when, with a defender approaching, he looked up, saw the goalkeeper moving out and dug looping a left foot shot over him, into the net.
It was the goal which co-owner Ryan Reynolds always said had switched him on to the beauty of football and, for what it’s worth, the film star’s tweet of it generated 2.1 million views.
For we Wrexham fans, though, it was the most graphic evidence we’d seen that we really did have the talent to end our non-League exile. The club had gambled on playing Mullin big wages. This proved his value.
And another vote from NATHAN SALT…
A goal that I felt I was watching in slow motion when witnessing it in real time. The game had ticked over into stoppage time, Stockport were breaking and an inch-perfect Liam McAlinden tackle stopped them in their tracks.
From there it was poetry in motion as Jordan Davies, a local lad who grew up a stone’s throw from the ground, sent Mullin clear and he chipped the goalkeeper from best part of 30 yards to send us to Wembley.
I lost my voice, picked up a few bruises in the celebrations, and can still picture it as vividly now as I did at the time. Technique, context, euphoria, the goal had it all.
Paul Mullin scored 110 goals for Wrexham in a stellar spell at the club
LEWIS STEELE: Nick Powell (Cheltenham 0-2 Crewe, 2012)
Nick Powell for Crewe Alexandra against Cheltenham in the League Two play-off final, 2012. What do you mean, dear reader, when you say you’ve never seen it?
The technique is outstanding and, to this day, I think he would have made it at Manchester United had Sir Alex Ferguson not left – the subsequent managers were under pressure so could not give youth players a chance.
Honourable mentions for Alejandro Garnacho for United at Everton and several Rodri goals for Manchester City. I also once saw someone back-heel a ball into their own goal from near the halfway line in Sunday League but I suppose that doesn’t count.
Nick Powell earned a move from Crewe to Manchester United in the summer of 2012 at the age of 18, just a month after his play-off final strike
WILL PICKWORTH: Dean Campbell (Aston Villa 1-2 Stevenage, 2023)
I can still vividly picture every part; David Amoo winning the corner, Jake Reeves taking it quickly, Ollie Watkins’ half-hearted attempt to close Dean Campbell down, the ball squirming under Robin Olsen’s arms, and the incredible away-end scenes.
As a Stevenage fan, I have never felt emotions quite like those provided by the 90th-minute winner to knock out Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in the FA Cup in January 2023.
The fact it was scored by Campbell, an OK but unspectacular loanee with just seven career goals in 247 games only adds to its allure, and ensures that Boro fans will never, ever, forget the Scottish midfielder.
