Goals

I hope you watched Liverpool versus Tottenham this afternoon. If the Super Bowl comes close to matching the dramatics of this match, we’ve got a repeat of New England-Atlanta on our hands. It was madness. It was pandemonium. It was classic Greek tragedy.

Mohamed Salah’s legend as the most likable footballer on the planet grew and the penalty drama (x2) will never be resolved, but my word did Victor Wanyama lace one. Personally, I saw zero trace of the ball as it pulverized the ol’ onion bag (sorry for that reference).

Ignacio “Nacho” Scocco scored perhaps the best goal of 2018 on Saturday during River Plate’s Argentine Primera Division match against Olimpo. Scocco scored a brace, leading Los Millonarios to a 2-0 victory, but the lasting memory will be this sensational solo effort, calling to mind the likes of international compatriots Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.

The play-by-play from the commentator is absolutely sensational as well, it must be said. Scocco’s surname really lends itself to the ol' goooooooool call.

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.

Paris Saint-Germain had an extremely eventful time advancing to the final of the Coupe de la Ligue today, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the hour mark with goals from Thomas Meunier, Marquinhos and Giovani Lo Celso. Meunier’s goal (see above) was an absolute banger.

However, Kylian Mbappe was given a straight red in the 63rd minute for a malicious scythe down the back of a Rennes player’s leg. The man advantage for the Red and Blacks led to goals in the 85th and 92nd minutes, but PSG held on for a 3-2 victory.

You could tell it by the way his teammates just kind of stood around and watched — Hugo Nunes was about to score and no one was going to stop him. During a match at the Al Kass U17 International Cup earlier this week in Qatar, there was no way the Benfica youngster was going to be denied against Guangzhou Evergrande.

Hugo Nunes, a striker for the Benfica youth team, pulled off three spectacular moves in succession to score one of the most thrilling goals of the year at any level. That he’s 16 just makes it all the more enjoyable to watch. 

The post-Alexis Sanchez era at Arsenal is off to a tremendous start. The Gunners rained down 14 minutes of hellfire on Crystal Palace on Saturday with Nacho Monreal, Alex Iwobi, Laurent Koscielny and Alexandre Lacazette all scoring between the sixth and 22nd minutes. 

Lacazette’s strike was his first in nine Premier League matches, but it was a superbly worked goal with Mesut Ozil providing his sixth assist of the campaign. The German maestro worked a series of one-twos outside the box before cleverly laying off for Lacazette to score.