Great Goals Of Our Time

A video reel of some of the greatest strikes of the modern era.

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Dado Prso-alike Stevie May has been scoring goals for fun at St Johnstone this season and Hearts were on the end of his clinical finishing in a 3-3 draw in January. The highlight of his treble was undoubtedly the second goal, when he was played through by Nigel Hasselbaink and expertly slotted home. He has clearly been studying his Carlton Cole DVDs. 

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The soon-to-be-retired Michael Owen was one of the most feared strikers of his generation and this goal against West Ham in November 2002 was a prime example of why. It was Owen's second goal in a 2-0 Liverpool win and he showed real composure to round David James and hammer home. The definition of 'netbuster'.

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Polish striker Grzegorz Rasiak earned a move to Tottenham Hotspur on the back of a successful season at Derby but failed to make an impression at White Hart Lane. He recaptured his Derby form after leaving Spurs for Southampton and this goal against Bury evidenced that. After a well saved initial penalty, Rasiak remained cool as the ball rebounded to him, outsmarting the goalkeeper and finishing with aplomb. After a brief spell in Greece, Rasiak can now be found back in his native Poland at Lechia Gdansk.

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Warren Barton is not a name often found in the same sentence as 'great goal' but his equaliser for Newcastle in this classic encounter against Liverpool in 1997 is surely worthy of the tag. Liverpool had raced into a three goal lead at half time but were pegged back to 3-2 with goals from Keith Gillespie and Faustino Asprilla. Then up stepped Barton with this rasper in the 88th minute to send the Newcastle fans wild. It was all to no avail though as Robbie Fowler headed Liverpool's winner in injury time, but Barton's sumptuous strike is the goal that will be remembered from an epic encounter. 

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Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez announced his arrival in English football with a cool finish in the 2010 Charity Shield against Chelsea at Wembley. Antonio Valencia was released down the right hand side and had time to pick out Hernandez who was free in the centre of the goal. Lesser goal poachers would have panicked as the ball was fired across, but Hernandez, the consummate finisher, remained composed as he flicked the ball up to himself and nodded home to make it 2-0 to United. A delight to watch.  

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A recent clip from the FA Cup Fourth Round tie between Millwall and Aston Villa last Friday. Villa took the lead in the first half with a great strike from the out of favour Darren Bent. Andrea Weimann broke forward and his shot from the edge of the box was too hot to handle for Millwall keeper David Forde. Bent was in the right place at the right time to fire emphatically home leaving Forde with no chance. Despite this positive start, Villa would go on to lose the match 2-1 with an 89th minute winner from John Marquis. Bent though can feel he proved something of a point to manager Paul Lambert with his sublime finish.  

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We revisit some evocative Oldham Athletic footage here with a goal from club legend Andy Ritchie. So much of the game has changed since this moment was captured, a quarter of a century ago, yet one thing that will never change is the primal joy experienced by football fans when witnessing a true centre forward's header - this a prime example. An inswinging cross is floated into the box and the graceful forward rises early, reading the flight of the ball perfectly. Ritchie has plenty to do but thanks to his powerful neck muscles he is able to connect with devastating power and send a thumping header into the net. Vintage striker play.

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There is no more frightening sight for a goalkeeper than Carlton Cole bearing down on you. And Burnley goalkeeper Lee Grant experienced just this in an FA Cup 5th Round tie in February 2011. Cole broke the Burnley offside trap and raced towards the goal, savvily navigating his way past Grant before slotting confidently into the empty net. Textbook. West Ham went on to win 5-1 only to be unceremoniously dumped out by Stoke in the next round. 

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Andy Morrell is a lower league legend having scored a hatful of goals during various spells at Wrexham, Coventry, Bury and Blackpool. Here we find him in his natural habitat, the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, and curling home an inch perfect finish into the far corner in a 2-1 win over Altrincham in February 2011. Rumour has it that even the Altrincham fans stood and applauded after this one. 

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Oldham installed a plastic pitch at Boundary Park in 1986, which may or may not have aided their eventually successful promotion push in 1990/91. One of the heroes of that and the previous campaign was Rick Holden, a winger who went on to dazzle intermittently at Manchester City. This goal shows Rick at his unstoppable best: Lethal power and skill enable him to negotiate his way through a helpless backline before he gleefully lashes the ball home once within range.

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Back to November 1988 here as the dominant Liverpool side of the era despatched of Middlesbrough 3-0 at Anfield - the Reds' second goal, scored by John Aldridge, has lived long in the memory of Liverpool fans. John Barnes crossed in from the left and after some nifty footwork from Ian Rush, Aldridge swivelled and drove home a clinical low finish. Aldridge claimed this goal was his favourite of the 350+ goals he scored throughout his career. It's not hard to see why. 

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The 2006 World Cup in Germany coincided perfectly with the arrival of a fresh and exciting brand new generation of players for the host nation. Philip Lahm set the tone for the competition by opening the scoring with a splendid curler in his side's trouncing of Costa Rica in the opening game, the rest of the tournament thrillingly followed suit. Although it was perhaps this goal, from Ji Sung Park, that best sums up the attacking dynamism and enterprising technique which is now synonymous with this fine tournament. Park shows the athleticism vital in the modern game by breaking beyond the South Korean forwards, latching onto a perfect knockdown and instinctively lifting the ball over the advancing keeper. If you watch William Gallas closely in the seconds immediately following the goal you can see that he is unable to hide his begrudging admiration for this world class finish.

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Headers are a fine art that involve impeccable timing and technique as is ably demonstrated here by South Africa's Siyabonga Nomvethe against Slovenia in the 2002 World Cup. Despite the grainy footage, Nomvethe gives a wonderful example to youngsters of how to keep your eye on the ball as he executes a bullet header that flies past Marko Simeunovic in the Slovenian goal. 

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Gianluca Vialli is considered one of the finest goalscorers Europe has seen and when Ruud Gullit managed to bring one of 'The Goal Twins' (the other being Roberto Mancini) to Chelsea it was a real coup for the Premier League. The reasons why are clear to see in this clip. The Italian wins the penalty himself, picks himself up, dusts himself down, and places the ball on the spot. An angry Vinnie Jones and a deserted building site would unsettle a lesser player, but Gianluca thrives on the pressure. His class and technique are clear for all to see as he sends the 'keeper one way and smashes the ball high into the goal. Neil Sullivan is able to get the slightest of touches on the ball, but is powerless to impact meaningfully upon it's trajectory. 

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The name ‘Wayne Rooney’ and the words ‘Manchester City Football Club’ and ‘match’ and ‘great goal’ will forever be linked to this particular beautiful strike from Sunday afternoon. Watching the slow-motion close-up from behind the goal is the only way to fully appreciate how sweet a strike this is. Joe Hart is left a spectator, probably grateful his mortal hands weren’t in the way of this spherical lightning rod.

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Gabriel Batistuta was one of the most feared strikers in world football during the 1990s and this goal is a great example of the power contained in that famous right boot of his. This deadly finish for Argentina against Greece in the group stage of World Cup 1994 nearly took the goal out of the ground. 

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Brazilians are of course renowned for their superb touch and technique, and Fluminese's ex-Lyon striker Fred is no different. This stunning chip in a recent match against Argentina is a classic mixture of perfect vision and execution.