Best Goals of the 2020/21 Premier League Season
Take a bow, son!
It was a season spent with no fans in the crowd for the absolute majority of the campaign — and even then, it was a minor capacity attendance for the final two matchdays that make the exception.
The anatomy of any great goal will always include the cheer of awe from thousands of fans who can’t quite believe what they’ve just seen.
This absence makes judging the goals from the 2020/21 Premier League season much more difficult than in any other.
Looking back on the season without doing any research, my initial assumption was that this was a “bad year” for great goals. But, having dug deeper into the memory banks (i.e. Going Online), there were a fine collection of fantastic goals this season.
However, there is really no escaping the reality that the lack of fans made these goals so bittersweet.
For instance, a goal like Erik Lamela’s rabona strike against North London rivals Arsenal is diminished by the lack of fans. It was a superb blend of quick thinking and amazing technique, but the only one who saw it was Sergio Reguilón!
A goal like that is supposed to stir the imagination, to open new ways of thinking about ludicrous ways to score goals. And yet, the only image it conjures up in my mind is how raucous the away end at the Emirates should’ve reacted to something so sublime.
In another crowd-filled season it likely is an undisputed goal of the season winner. Yet, something about it feels so wrong in an empty stadium. It is unfair to take that away from Lamela, but that’s how emotions be.
Despite this goal’s glaring omission (I am going out on a limb and assuming most others do consider this one of the goals of the season because my dispute against it is frankly irrational), there were still five stunning shots that rippled the back of the net in 2020/21.
5. Paul POGBA (vs. Fulham)
This goal may look like a run of the mill long-ranger that finds its way in the bottom corner. Those shots go in roughly 1% of the time, which isn’t actually all that low a percentage considering how many shots there are in a given season.
However, what makes this one so good is that Pogba’s use of his “weaker” left foot still gets that much power and precision on the ball.
The little run-up from the Frenchman also gives everyone watching that two seconds of anticipation before the ball is struck. Everyone can see what’s about to happen before it does and that it actually goes in makes it all so very satisfying.
This was also the period of the season where Pogba really came into his own as a force that drove United towards a title race. This goal secured his team a 2–1 comeback win in Fulham to put them top of the table.
Pogba was ruled out with injury only two weeks later and the Red Devils’ title push faltered with his absence.
4. Phil FODEN (vs. Liverpool)
Foden has been Manchester City’s worst kept secret for years. The Englishman made his league debut at 17-years old and his talent has been obvious from the very start.
Despite fans and the press yearning to see him get greater playtime, it wasn’t really until this season that Foden broke into City’s starting XI.
Foden’s Premier League playtime increased from 901 minutes last season to 1616 minutes this campaign (an increase from nine starts to 17, too). In that time, he went from scoring five goals in 2019/20, to bagging nine goals this season.
Of those nine, his solo effort at Anfield was by far and away the greatest.
Man City hadn’t won away to Liverpool in the league since 2003. The Citizens had gone 3–1 up, with Foden playing a key role in the build up to the first two goals. They were well on their way to extending their lead at the top of the table, and sinking their big rivals while doing so, when Foden finished the match with a fantastic solo effort.
Foden picks up the ball on the right edge of the box from a floated Gabriel Jesus pass. The first touch brings the ball down, his foot like a cushion receiving the ball. He dribbles into the box with his second, third and fourth touches.
The 21-year old’s fifth touch brings it past Andrew Robertson to open up a yard of space that he then uses to drill the ball past Alisson Becker at his near post. The Brazilian goalkeeper had no chance to stop this strike.
This was the match where Foden showed he belonged on the pitch with the best players in the country. To cap off that performance with this goal was simply the icing on the cake.
3. Bruno FERNANDES (vs. Everton)
The similarities were drawn immediately between this goal and Eric Cantona’s against Sunderland in 1996. Cantona’s goal has the advantage of being in front of a crowd, and his iconic celebration takes full advantage of that. However, given Fernandes’ role in this United team, for him to score a goal so similar to the Frenchman is such a fun moment.
The Portuguese transformed United from a top chasing side that was floundering in fifth and sixth to a side that comfortably qualified for the Champions League. It’s not quite the impact Cantona had on the club, but he is the closest modern equivalent we have seen.
The strike itself is also superb. It is a deft finish that is set up beautifully, first by his initial dummy over the ball and then by opening up his body to find the space ahead of the Everton defender.
The goal even has the Gary Neville “ooh” noise seal of approval.
It was an audacious attempt on goal that frankly only Fernandes could think to try, let alone succeed. It is a goal that sums up so much of what makes him such a great player. The invention of the strike is truly what makes this goal so special.
2. Jesse LINGARD (vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Jesse Lingard disappeared from the football consciousness during 2019/20, only featuring in 935 minutes of Premier League action that season. That playtime vanished entirely in the first half of 2020/21, he failed to feature for Manchester United for a single minute this campaign.
Yet, his move to West Ham United saw a resurgence in form that has now seen him called up to the provisional England squad for Euro 2021.
In that run for the Hammers, he scored nine goals and had four assists, averaging 0.82 goals or assists per 90 minutes.
The 60-yard dribble against Wolves was the finest in a collection of good goals.
There were a few goals of similar quality this season, such as Ebre Eze’s against Sheffield United in one of the opening games. But what sets this one apart from the goals like it is that it still manages to be a team goal.
It is not often a goal can be described like that despite the scorer dribbling on the ball by himself for so long.
The lovely flicks and quick passing to progress the ball to Lingard so quickly is what sets the move in motion. Then there is the run from Michail Antonio that drags the Wolves defender away to open up the space for Lingard to run into.
The finish is a smart, clean hit into the bottom corner to round off a superb team-solo effort.
1. Manuel LANZINI (vs. Tottenham Hotspur)
Not only was this a fantastic hit from Lanzini but it was also one of the most dramatic goals of the entire season.
West Ham found themselves 3–0 down within 16 minutes to their fierce rivals Tottenham. All three goals were sucker-punches. The first came within the opening minute of the game, so the Hammers were entirely on the backfoot from the get go.
Yet they kept going and even with the game still 3–0 after 80 minutes they were pushing to get a consolation goal.
Fabián Balbuena pulled one back in the 82nd minute and Davinson Sánchez converted a cross into his own net in the 85th minute to peg the game back to 3–2.
Gareth Bale missed a fantastic chance at 3–2 to put the game to bed for Spurs. The Welshman dribbled past his man to get through on goal, but he shanked the chance wide to keep the game in the balance in the dying minutes.
In the very final moments of the game, the ball fell to Lanzini’s feet and the Argentine smacked the ball into the top corner. He couldn’t have hit the ball any better or any sweeter than that. It pinged in off the crossbar — and we all know that adds to the greatness of any goal.
Despite the lack of a crowd, the West Ham bench was pandemonium. David Moyes didn’t know where to look or where to run, it was pure ecstasy.
There was obviously an element of luck to the strike, those types of goals need the ball to be hit absolutely perfectly otherwise they fly off in a completely wrong direction — maybe even out for a throw in if it goes horribly wrong.
However, the fact that it didn’t, that in the decisive moment Lanzini still managed to hit it absolutely perfectly, that makes it special.
The context of course also matters. If this was the consolation goal to make it 3–1 in the final embers of the game then hardly anyone remembers it. That adds to the greatness of the strike and considering its importance is completely valuable.
Let’s hope next season we get as good a strike to decide such an important game in as dramatic circumstances but in front of a packed crowd.
