Breakaway goals are great on TV but best appreciated in the ground where you can see the full sweep of play and one bloke runs free from his own half and you either think a goal is never in doubt, or he’ll never beat the keeper.
Either way, a breakaway is always thrilling or depressing. Nothing in between.
Here are 10 of the best…
Mo Salah v Arsenal
Something of an expert at running very fast at goal, unchallenged.
In this game in 2017, Arsenal have a corner, always a dangerous situation for a breakaway goal. It’s headed clear and Salah dispossesses an Arsenal player halfway in his own half and because Arsenal are playing a stupidly high defensive line, he’s immediately clear and free.
You don’t give Mo such space because this was the time he had that ’go-faster’ hair where it looked like he’s standing in a wind tunnel. It’s one of the best sights in football.
Very much in the ‘never-in-doubt’ goals category. No one can catch him or anywhere close and he scores with his left foot. Well that’s what happens when you play with no defenders in your own half. Silly billies.
Salah’s sensational breakaway goal against Arsenal in 2017 🔝#LIVARS pic.twitter.com/vWESlXsBpb
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 22, 2023
Georginio Wijnaldum v Arsenal
Having not learned their lesson with Salah, once again Liverpool gain possession midway through their own half and hold the ball up briefly while players fly forward.
Then they break en masse, scattering Arsenal players far and wide, they have committed too many men forward and have no one behind the ball. It all happens in seconds as Liverpool tear them apart, spread it wide and then cross it for Wijnaldum to score. It looks like a computer game with one player who is good, one bad.
Steven Gerrard v Spurs
About 20 years ago, not to be outdone by Arsenal at crap defending, Liverpool gain possession from Spurs in their own box, it goes wide and then centrally to Gerrard, who is, as a commentator would say, “already on his bike” on the halfway line with no one between him and the Spurs keeper. One defender tries to keep up with him but fails as Gerrard shoots from the edge of the box and scores. Yep, that’ll happen when you’re playing 1-1-8.
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Fernando Torres v Barcelona
Hilariously simple way to score a winner: plant a man on the halfway line and boot it long in his general direction and hope the opposition leave just one man to mark him. This was Chelsea’s secret plan, which must have taken hours of preparation so that even John Terry could remember it.
That said, to be onside, he’s supposed to be in his own half when he first touches it and I’m not sure he is, anyway this is before VAR was here to push its glasses up its nose and bogart our joint, as the vernacular of youth would have it in 1969.
Andrey Arshavin v Liverpool
To prove they aren’t always the victim of this lark, this time the Arsenal keeper punches it clear of the penalty area, and Theo Walcott collects it and runs very fast at the goal with Liverpool in his wake, releasing it on the edge of the box to that brief hero with a low crown, Arshavin, who has run the length of the pitch – with Liverpool having seemingly forgotten to mark him – to batter it into the net.
We didn’t realise he was a bit of a sh*te as he was officially registered as a proxy for Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin. Must have been life under Arsene Wenger in north London that warped his mind to support a dictator.
“He’s done it…. FOUR!”
Arsenal travel to Liverpool on Saturday night and four-goal hero Andrey Arshavin looks back on *that* famous night at Anfield
More: https://t.co/2BU1PuH3UB pic.twitter.com/zDNPQCawkp
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 21, 2019
Mark Hughes v Chelsea
A long time ago, when the world was much younger than today, Peter Schmeichel pushed a ball past an attacker and booted it up the left wing to a young Ryan Giggs, who could really shift in those days, usually out of his brother’s bedroom window. The defence can’t keep up as he crosses it to Mark Hughes, a man who was 75% thighs, to slide home. To think he was just over 30 years away from getting the sack as manager of Bradford City with a 37% win ratio.
Ronaldo v Sweden
There are a lot of examples of CR7 breakaway goals, back when he could run. Even though there is something comical about the way he runs, with his little legs whirring, holding up this giant body made of muscle and self-love.
Portugal head the ball out of their own box, chip it into midfield, as CR7 is powering into space, fuelled only by overwhelming ego and expensive hair products. The midfielder fires it through a disorganised defence to Ronaldo, 10 yards into the opposition’s half. He runs into the box and scores and immediately puts himself on a pedestal to be worshipped as a god.
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Gilberto v Chicago Fire
A good example of the simple tactic of having a player that is faster than the defence. The ball is fired by Chicago into the legs of a Toronto defender and it bounces off him right into midfield from the penalty area. Chicago has got three men back, but they’re all caught on their heels by the subsequent through ball. And Gilberto just accelerates away and not one of the three can keep up, two of them just give up as he takes it right around the goalie to score.
Mo Salah v Manchester United
Another classic Mo strike, this time against a Manchester United team that either don’t care or have forgotten how to play the game. Both probably. It’s men against boys as Liverpool recover the ball in midfield and with one pass, split the defence, such as they are, leaving Salah free to run very fast at goal from 45 yards.
The weary look of resignation on United players as they jog back having totally given up, sums up their abject performance as Salah puts the ball in the net.
Gareth Bale v Barcelona
This is remarkable because he runs from about 80 yards out and the Madrid player is so fast, he has time to actually run off the pitch, then back on and around the opposition player, cuts in front of him, into the box with everyone waiting for him to cross it and score but he doesn’t need them and sticks it in the net.
It looks like he’s taking the mick and is about 50% faster than the opposition. Basically he’s an Adama Traore who knows what to actually do with the ball.
This Gareth Bale goal will forever be one of the most iconic moments in El Clasico history 🔥 pic.twitter.com/MB63zGBL2V
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 9, 2023
