TOP 10 BEST GOALS
10) Torres @ Sunderland
Scoreline, 0-0. Opening day. The Reds (or “grays” on the day) were having a shocker, and then up-stepped our own attacking powderkeg, Fernando Torres. With just one moment of class, Torres was able to jink the ball in front of him, have a rip and strike gold into the lower near corner from a good 25 yards out with only minutes remaining. He hit the ball with power, pinpoint accuracy, and quite a bit of movement. Glorious goal… one that had me screaming in delight, that’s for sure! At first glance it didn’t look amazing, but the replays show how unstoppable that shot really was!
9) Gerrard v. Everton (FA Cup)
The strike itself was average from Gerrard, but the play itself was simply stunning. With Liverpool struggling a bit for form, and playing against an Everton side who would end up making the final, Liverpool needed some inspiration. They got that through Fernando Torres, who whilst backpeddling, managed to juggle the ball with just about everything except his backside and backheeled a magnificent throughball to Gerrard on the run. An absolutely phenomenal piece of skill.
Keane @ Arsenal
Robbie Keane may not have lit the world alight while he was at Liverpool- quite the opposite, really- but his goal at Arsenal was something special. Daniel Agger’s long-ball found Keane in space, and despite an awkwardly long and high bounce, was able to run onto it and smack it on the half-volley with pace and power right into the top-corner and the roof of the net. “Twas a brilliant strike!” Too bad it would be one of very, very few.
7) Gerrard v. Real Madrid
Control, placement, composure, and timing. Steven Gerrard has these qualities in abundance. Against Real Madrid, and already up 2-0 because of his exploits, Steven Gerrard hammered in a fabulous third in quite some style. Ryan Babel’s trickery on the wing, in combination with a great cross, found the feet of Gerrard, but with an awkward bounce. 9 out of 10 players in the world would have skied that shot into row Z or would have scuffed it altogether. But not Gerrard. He smacked it perfectly into the roof of the net. 3-0, and a route in the making against one of the world’s most famous sides.
6) Riera @ Preston North End
The 3rd round FA Cup tie against Preston was going fairly smoothly, but with the scores still at 0-0, a moment of magic from Albert Riera would open up the match completely. At a relatively useless position once he received the ball, it was looking unlikely for Riera to score, not to mention in style. He was able to cut inside with some crafty footwork, and unleash a howlitzer from a tight angle and into the top corner. The keeper had NO chance. Fantastic strike from Riera, and we’d go on to win 2-0 at Deepdale and progress to the next round.
5) Riera @ PSV Eindhoven
If his goal against Preston was a signal of his capabilities in front of goal, his strike against Eindhoven in Holland was a sign that he is in fact BRILLIANT with his left foot. About 30 yards out, and with the match level at 1-1, Riera decided to have a rip at a fairly difficult position on the pitch. No matter… it was as if the top corner had a magnet and Riera’s strike found it quite superbly. Yet another excellent strike for Liverpool in Europe.
4) Fabio Aurelio @ Manchester United
Fabio Aurelio has scored great goals in his time, namely with Valencia. Generally these goals had come from free-kicks, yet Liverpool was still waiting for this. And what a time to do it. Up 2-1 over Man U at Old Trafford, there was no better time for Aurelio to stick a beauty into the top corner. What was so special about this goal wasn’t just the occasion- though it was quite ideal- but also the manner in which he completely cemented Van Der Sar (VAN DER SAR!) in place and made the wall just turn and look. You could say it was the perfect free-kick. It JUST sneaked over the wall, it curled into the top near corner, and it was hit with pace and curl. Delightful in every respect of the beauty of the free kick. Lovely stuff.
3) Agger v. Blackburn
Upon scoring his wondergoal against West Ham in the 2006-2007 season, the commentator said “he’ll never hit one that sweet again in his life.” Well, you should probably take that back, because Agger duplicated it in 2009! This strike, in some ways, was even better. In 2006, there was a bit more swirl and curve. The angle was more favorable, though. In 2009, the angle was tighter, but the shot was hit with MUCH more venom and an incredible run to go with it. This goal was just simply stunning, and may have been thought of a bit more highly had it not happened in the same match as the Fernando Torres goal. Agger hit the ball fiercely from 30 yards or so into the top near corner, much like Riise against Birmingham in 2005-2006, but this goal had a beautiful juke and dribble to boot. Pure class, this one!
2) Gerrard @ Marseille
This was a goal that honestly only maybe two or three people in the world were capable of scoring. The difficulty was incredible, the result majestic. Down 1-0 to Marseille, Torres made a decent run down the middle and sprayed the ball wide to Kuyt, who in turn laid the ball off to Gerrard about 25 yards out at the top of the box. When Gerrard was about to collect it, his hips were facing the direction he was moving- towards the sideline. Yet, with one swivel of his hips, he cranked on the ball TOWARDS the goal and it flew into the top corner, leaving Mandanda’s feet totally in quicksand. There was nothing he could do. It was totally unstoppable, and more than that it was definitely unpredictable. The strike was insane. End of story!
1) Torres v. Blackburn
There are special goals that make you celebrate with glee and scream around like an idiot (Luis Garcia v. Juventus, for example), and then there are goals that leave you completely speechless because they catch the magic of the beautiful game. This goal from Torres falls in that second category. When he scored it, I simply remember just standing up with goosebumps and covering my mouth with one hand as if to say, “did that REALLY just happen?” Jamie Carragher had sent up a long looping ball up to Torres quite perfectly, but it was still not that much of a threat in reality. Torres still needed to control it with his chest, and when he chested it towards the corner of the 18 yard box, it didn’t look like the danger was on. But then as the ball hit its apex off of the ground once he had chested it, Torres inexplicably decided to hit the ball on the volley and it dipped over Paul Robinson, under the bar, and PERFECTLY into the top side netting. What. A. Goal.
