Zlatan Ibrahimovic isn’t prone to sharing the ball with his team-mates. Given the choice between making a pass or shooting for goal, the Swedish striker will go for glory more often than not.
He does, however, make a habit of contorting his body in order to find the back of the net. And when there’s acrobatic limb twisting involved, he’ll pass the ball too. Take a look at this video.
The incredible circus pass to Dejan Stanković didn’t lead to a goal, but Ibrahimovic did make it onto the scoresheet. He grabbed the final goal in Inter’s 3-0 win over Lazio on Saturday. The Nerazzurri are now nine points clear at the top of Serie A.
There was lots of good goalkeeping in the Premier League yesterday, but not much in the way of spectacular goals. So, to tide us over in the meantime, here’s some vintage Matt Le Tissier from ‘93.
Southampton legend Le Tissier scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United that day. The match-winning strike in the video hit the back of the net three minutes from time. And what a way to win a match!
Each touch en route to goal just serves to confirm his genius: flicking the ball out from behind his back; ghosting by the first defender; lobbing the second and passing the ball into the corner of the net… Brilliant. And not dissimilar to this Davie Cooper strike for Rangers.
Saturday’s Premiership tussle between Portsmouth and Hull City was more remarkable for Glen Johnson’s wonder-goal than the final 2-2 scoreline.
What a strike! Taking the ball on your chest and hammering it left-footed into the net from 30 yards out without even breaking stride is normally the preserve of football legends and Brazilian superstars. For an English player to do it - one who doesn’t even know if he’s a defender or midfielder - well, that’s bloody spectacular! Take a bow, Glen Johnson.
Here’s an alternative video clip, because the copyright fairies are doing their upmost to purge this goal from the interweb.
Click here for more incredible goals. Or go to the front page and browse the archives to see football’s hidden underbelly.
Here’s some vintage 1972 footage of Johan Cruyff in his first spell at Ajax.
What a first touch! Enough to take the three-time European Footballer Of The Year to the edge of the area and leave Den Haag defender Cees Weimar trailing.
If you watch the video a second time, you’ll see a bit of strapping in Cruyff’s right hand. He was tying up his socks and effectively out of the game before the ball was played forward. Which explains why Weimar was so far adrift in the first place.
For Cruyff magic in a Barcelona shirt, click here.