Nominated for the Bundesliga’s January Goal of the Month, we’d be surprised if this stunning free kick from Wolfsburg’s Max Arnold doesn’t win — although Bayer Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey scored a couple cracks as well. Watching this goal in real-time, your first instinct is to be absolutely convinced that it took a deflection.
The best free kick taker of all time turns 43 today, and we have found the perfect video to honor all of his greatest strikes.
Here’s a fine example of the commentator’s curse (not that Kaizer Chiefs and South Africa No. 1 Itumeleng Khune could do much about it). With the broadcasters waxing lyrical about Khune’s distribution from goalkeeper, Polokwane City’s Walter Musona stepped up and drilled a sensational free kick into the top corner.
I had a teammate growing up who was our regular penalty kick taker. He would slowly walk up to the ball and kick it meekly toward the corner. Eventually, the ball would trickle into the back of the net, with supreme accuracy overriding the deliberate pace of the shot. Brazilian legend Zico’s free kicks would do the same thing, only from 20 to 40 yards out.
Burnley’s sensational quest for European football continued apace Tuesday with an improbable 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. Ashley Barnes gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the third minute after a free kick into the box was eventually scrambled home, then Steven Defour went direct with a sensational effort in the 36th minute, leaving David de Gea fanning the air.
It's a SportsCenter Top 10 certainty.
It’s hugely unfortunate for Carabao Cup quarterfinalists Bristol City, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s feel-good return following last season’s significant knee injury found its happy ending Wednesday after the big Swede scored in his first start of the 2017-18 season.
It’s a deflected effort from a free kick that should’ve never been awarded, but Bristol’s anger is Zlatan’s sweet redemption. Ibra has made substitute appearances for United in both the Premier League and Champions League over November and December, but the 36-year-old was handed his first start in the League Cup.