As part of a series titled "Discussion Starters that Do Not Really Have Correct Answers," I present to you the following: Andrei Arshavin's goal against Blackburn was one of the best of the season. And yes I realize this gif looks like it was created on a SNES.
Granted that us Gooners are maybe gloating a bit after a disappointing season, but honestly I thought the goal was a thing of beauty. As you can see from the very crude slo-mo above (which took me waaaaaaay too much time to create last night), Arshavin managed to completely beat his defender in very tight space, control the ball along the baseline and then still have an angle to hit the goal. Oh and he didn't blast it over the bar or wide, but rather kicked it with power just over the head of poor, defenseless Paul Robinson. (Fun fact: Arsenal have scored 50 goals against the former England #1 Robinson). Granted that Blackburn's defending was poor, but take nothing away from Arshavin's effort, who paid the ultimate price for Blackburn's kick-the-shins tactics and is out of today's FA match thanks to eight stitches in his foot [Ed.-maybe not].
That said, I will also admit that this weekend's free kick by Aurelio was amazing, as was the run made by Wigan's Charles N'Zogbia. But what say you? Was Arshavin's goal a candidate for goal of the season? Is it even in the discussion? And, more importantly, what do you think is the goal of the season? As our friend Ives would say, share your thoughts below.
Arshavin
Aurelio
N'Zogbia (starts at 2:55)
There was a goal in Ligue 1 earlier this season that far exceeded these goals. It was a 37 yard laser off of a rebound that hit the upper 90. Absolutely stunning.
ReplyDeleteThe NY Kid should know which one I am talking about.
The finish was nothing special, but Arshavin's move down the line was a fabled ankle breaker.
ReplyDeleteIt was Remy Mareval
ReplyDeleteYup...Georger got it. Now don't hurt your elbow patting yourself on the back.
ReplyDeleteumlat... isn't it often the buildup that makes a goal so spectacular? I can think of a slew of Henry goals at Arsenal that were simple finishes...it was the three defenders he made look like sunday leaguers that made the goal special. Messi's similar that way too in my opinion
ReplyDeleteRemy Mareval
ReplyDeleteglad to see you kids did my work for me.
ReplyDeleteSure. And to be fair, that finish is quite embarrassing for Robinson, so there is that.
ReplyDeleteI want to point out as well that I think Bendtner was in "why didn't you pass it to me?" mode in the second angle.
I just remember because I was the one that found it on Ives, and you guys did a post on it but the video there is naturally unavailable now.
ReplyDeleteI still like Bentley's better (as far as EPL goals go) but I'm a sucker for long range goals.
If anyone can find Adam Pepper's halfway line goal from this weekend hook me up with a like.
finally some recognition for aurelio's goal! i find that his free kick was overshadowed by torres and gerrard's performances... and dosenna's last minute shocker aha. how often has manutd conceded from a set piece this season? well not like they've conceded anything at all
ReplyDeleteahaha and there's probably a much easier way to gif than the method you used. i'm an expert ;) feel free to ask for a hand
Bentley's goal against Arsenal for sure. Granted, that's the only thing he's done right all season so maybe that cheapens it a bit.
ReplyDeleteFun fact: Bentley's goal against the Arse is his only in the league still to this point.
ReplyDeleteAre we just talking EPL? Because Ibra's karate kick goal for Inter was pretty awesome.
@PR: Not limited to just EPL! Any and all suggestions are welcome.
ReplyDeleteRobinson should be ashamed. A keeper should never be beaten from that range at the near stick. Shocker. Good work but a great goal? Notachance. My money is on this goal not even getting a mention by the end of the season. there have been some crackers in the EPL, scissor kicks, long range efforts, volleys etc. This was oportunistic and shitty keeping.
ReplyDeleteGeorger, I remember you pointing that out over at TBL, but I think NYK may have pointed it out to and I had just missed it.
ReplyDeleteIbrahimovic's heel kick goal was wicked.
Bojan from this past weekend . Sure, he fell over when he hit it, but the build-up is phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteand if we're talking EPL only, I'd like to submit a few homer's choices:
ReplyDeleteCarew v. Stoke
and Milner v. Blackburn
@c0rrine: I shall take you up on your offer for help on making gifs, seeing as how I downloaded four shareware programs and this was the best I could come up with!
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, and Gabby's circus-seal act against the Gunners .
ReplyDeleteRather than bask in that goal from Saturday, I am more concerned with the news that BBC is reporting this morning that El-Hadj Douche's tackle has sidelined Almunia for today's match, Eduardo will be out, Clichy will be rested and Arshavin had 8 stitches in his foot this weekend and is doubtful. WTF!?!?!
ReplyDeleteLink
Well, it's only Hull.
ReplyDeleteOh, wait.
Didn't Glen Johnson smack a beauty for Pompey in late-Nov, maybe early-Dec?
ReplyDeleteI cant remember the game at all, but I do remember him running in field, chesting it down and half-volleying it from around 25 yards.
Was an utter peach. Surely that deserves some contention?
That Glen Johnson goal was pretty sweet, but can I get some love for Eduardo's slicing side-footed volley?
ReplyDeletesurely this was the goal of the season.
ReplyDeleteGG: How quickly we forget. I'd put Eduardo's side-footed effort over Arshavin.
ReplyDeleteFucking Diouf should have been red carded. I still can't believe Almunia finished that game. Fabianski is more than capable. More worried about Eduardo and Arshavin. Why can't we fucking stay healthy?
Yeah, I'll take Eduardo's outside heel shot to the opposite corner. Just disgusting to even think about.
ReplyDeleteWhile it wasn't the prettiest of goals, Ashley's Young's last-second shot against Everton to snatch a win out of a draw was pretty sweet.
ReplyDeleteI also seem to remember a good Zaki strike (perhaps against Liverpool?) from earlier in the season when he was still playing well.
Or maybe candidate for worst goal keeping
ReplyDeleteIn terms of goals of the season, I'm partial to Sunderland's Grant Leadbitter. A 25-yarder against Arsenal, late in the match. It wasn't the goal's brilliance so much as its significance. Leadbitter's dad died a few weeks earlier, and his ashes were spread on the pitch. Leadbitter celebrated my running to the spot and about broke down. Good goal, good moment.
ReplyDeleteHow about Gerrard's against Marseille in France? Ball was behind him, and he managed to hit it so well the keeper had no chance.
ReplyDeleteGerrard has Down Syndrome so it's even more impressive.
ReplyDelete/tyduffy
As a Rovers fan, I'm with BD and CG on this one. No goal involving Robbo this season can possibly qualify as a "great one". I've had the unimaginable joy* of watching almost all of his matches this season, and that was nothing special...
ReplyDelete* by unimaginable joy, I mean soul-sucked-out-of-my-body-via-repeated-vomitous-mistakes..