As the football league season got underway at the KC Stadium on Friday night, it brought an end to pre-season, and has given purpose back to our lives. A great weekend in the football league was topped off with the Community shield and a chance for the big boys to warm us up for the Premier League campaign which begins next week. Normally this is quite a dull affair in which two teams poke around for a bit before the odd goal is scored, or we wait out for penalties.
However this year, the match took on a different twist with a Manchester derby and a chance for City to prove they’re not just the ‘noisy neighbours’ anymore and in fact the real deal.Mancini put out a relatively strong squad, bar the exclusion of Carlos Tevez and not-quite-match-fit Sergio Aguero, it is the strongest side he could have put out. Fergie on the other hand, gave youth a chance with Danny Welbeck given the chance to prove his England call up, and Chris Smalling given the chance to shine at full back. It was also a chance for David De Gea to show why he is the answer to Van Der Sar’s retirement, something he failed to do. In fact he was at fault for both City goals which saw them lead 2-0 at half time. But City were way too defensive, raising the same questions as last season about their ambition, and United ran out very deserved 3-2 winners. The relevance of all this to pre-seasom and goals? Well, although technically an official game, one can be forgiven for suggesting the Community Shield is still a season warm up. And we saw one of the great goals, which inspired me to put together a list of some of the best pre-season goals I have seen.
First up, the delightful team goal which gave this blog post inspiration, as Nani rounds off a clever move to pull United level on Sunday. Oh, and why not have it in Arabic…
So to my top 5 goals that history forgot, as usual its just my opinion based on what I’ve seen, any other entries are more than welcome, just let me know…
5) Questions may remain over Luka Modric’s future at White Hart Lane, but a bit more of this from Niko Kranjcar and Spurs fans may not miss the little magician…
4) Seems to be the norm for teams to fly across the pond and partake in a US tour, and the LA Galaxy fans were treated to this gem from the Portuguese winger as he danced around defenders and fired in from an acute angle…
3) A new Belgian striker through the doors at Chelsea, and Fernando Torres seems to have found some of his form during pre-season. However let’s not forget Didier Drogba and the beast he could be, with this stonker against AC a few years back…
2) The forgotten playmaker of Israel. Step forward Yossi Benayoun and this fine bit of ball juggling. A back heel finish as well, may have to amend my highlight reel from last week. Quality.
1) I’m not sure if it’s the fact Phillippe Senderos completed a pass that wasn’t over 10 yards that makes this goal great?! But then what follows is sublime, complete control a precision volley from 20 yards, the ball doesn’t even touch the floor. Enjoy…
awaydraw.com 