Jamie Vardy stunned the Premier League on Tuesday night with a wondergoal for Leicester City against Liverpool, a strike that immediately entered the conversation for goal of the season in the Premier League. How good was the goal? Let's ask the managers. "It was unbelievable, amazing, fantastic," said Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri, per Stuart James at The Guardian[1]. Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was quoted by Sky Sports' Patrick Surlis as saying: "I was close to clapping my hands to be honest but I just felt too bad at that moment."[2] Since it's safe to say Vardy's goal ranks among the Premier League's best this season, we've decided that now is the perfect time to compile a list of the division's top goals so far during this 2015-16 campaign. After flipping through our list, be sure to add your favorites to the comments section. This is the one. It's this slideshow's entire raison d'etre. In the 60th minute of Leicester City's 2-0 home win over Liverpool on Tuesday night, Jamie Vardy ran onto a lofted pass from Riyad Mahrez in the opposition's half. The striker allowed the ball to bounce and, spotting an opening, volleyed a brilliant first-time shot over Simon Mignolet[3] and into the net from long distance. Vardy added another goal later in the second half to seal the victory, which kept Leicester's dream run atop the table going for at least another week. "I don't think I will ever score a better one to be fair. But a goal is a goal and more importantly it's three points," Vardy said, per Graeme Bryce at The Sun[4]. "I watched their keeper and he was coming quite far off his line. As soon as the ball came through and bounced, I just took my chance and luckily it went over him." On any other night, Anthony Martial might have dominated the headlines. But the Manchester United man had the distinct misfortune of scoring a fantastic goal on the same night as Jamie Vardy's thunderbolt. The scene was Old Trafford, and the setting was Manchester United's Premier League match against Stoke City on Tuesday night. United won the match 3-0 to close the gap on fourth-placed Arsenal to five points, and the second goal was pure class. With the hosts leading 1-0 in the 23rd minute, Wayne Rooney[5] drove toward the box on the right before curling a pass to Martial on the other side of the pitch. Martial controlled with an outstanding first touch before curling an unstoppable shot into the top corner past Jack Butland. The scary part is that, at just 20 years old, Martial has all the time in the world to improve. If Vardy's goal isn't the best of the season, that honor will surely go to this strike. On January 23, Tottenham Hotspur visited Crystal Palace in a Premier League London derby. The match was tied 1-1 84th minute, when Dele Alli settled it with a moment of genius. After Christian Eriksen headed a Harry Kane cross into Alli's path, the 19-year-old flicked the ball over Mile Jedinak's head, turned and volleyed past the goalkeeper from 20 yards. It was completely unstoppable, and much like Martial, Alli will only improve as he matures. The 2015-16 season has been, for the most part, a bitter disappointment for Chelsea, the reigning Premier League champions. But despite being well off the pace, the Blues have still enjoyed a few good moments. One of the best came against Newcastle on Sept. 26, when Ramires started a two-goal comeback with a howitzer strike from distance. Controlling a pass in the middle of the part about 30 yards from goal, the Brazilian unleashed a laser beam that zipped past the goalkeeper and nearly tore through the back of the net's top corner. Willian scored a few minutes later to complete Chelsea's fightback, earning a 2-2 draw. And for Ramires, it turned out to be his second-to-last goal with the club. In January, he joined Chinese side Jiangsu Suning in a £25 million deal. Everybody loves a sweetly struck shot. But while Ramires' strike at Newcastle was impressive, Ross Barkley's goal against Watford back in August might have been even sweeter. With the Toffees trailing 1-1 in the 76th minute, Arouna Kone laid off a pass for Barkley near the edge of the box. Barkley ran on and powered an outside-of-the-boot scorcher into the top corner. Replays showed the ball swerving wickedly as it tore through Watford's crowded box, and if any goalkeeper could have saved it, we'd really like to meet him (or her). When Bournemouth hosted Sunderland in the Premier League on Sept. 19, the Cherries stunned their visitors with two goals in the first nine minutes to take control of the match. The second, scored by Matt Ritchie, was unreal. With the ball flying out to him approximately 30 yards from goal, Ritchie controlled with his chest and then whipped a side-volley into the net with ferocious outside-of-the-boot swerve. For Black Cats goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon, it was simply unfair. Bournemouth won the match 2-0. As we continue our slideshow, we also continue the theme of long-distance, swerving shots. Next up is Cuco Martina, a player few in England had heard of before Boxing Day. But after Southampton's surprising 4-0 victory over Arsenal, quite a few people knew who the Curacao international was. In the 19th minute of a (so far) scoreless match, a Per Mertesacker clearance bounced to Martina—a right-back—about 35 yards from goal. With his first touch, Martina smacked the ball with the outside of his boot, curling it outside the post and back into the net past Petr Cech. Beating Cech from that distance takes some doing. But in this instance, Cech was helpless. Liverpool didn't find much to like during their 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford in September. But Christian Benteke[6] grabbed an outstanding consolation strike for the visitors. With his side trailing 2-0 in the 84th minute, Benteke pulled a goal back with a perfectly executed overhead kick. That's one of the most difficult moves in all of football, and the big striker made it look rather easy. Arsenal appeared to take control of the Premier League title race with their 2-1 victory at home to Manchester City on Dec. 21. That now appears to have been a false dawn, but that's a story for another time. For our purposes, we're interested in City's lone goal of the game. Yaya Toure did the honors in the 82nd minute, accepting a pass from Bacary Sagna before poking a nonchalant-looking effort straight into the top corner from 20 yards. With almost no backlift, the Ivorian gave little hint that he was about to shoot, and Petr Cech could only watch the ball sail by him. Kevin De Bruyne is currently out of action after suffering a knee injury late last month. If the Belgian does miss the rest of the season, at least we have an excellent goal to remember from his first season with Manchester City. On Oct. 3, the Sky Blues demolished Newcastle 6-1 at the Etihad, and De Bruyne netted a great goal. As a cross flew toward him in the 53rd minute, the 24-year-old turned and volleyed simultaneously, sending the ball looping over the goalkeeper and into the net.
References
- ^ The Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ Sky Sports (www.skysports.com)
- ^ Simon Mignolet (bleacherreport.com)
- ^ The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)
- ^ Wayne Rooney (bleacherreport.com)
- ^ Christian Benteke (bleacherreport.com)
