Wayne Rooney’s third goal against West Ham United was brilliant.
The Everton forward showed great speed of thought, and wonderful technique, to score from his own half. It was a spectacular finish.
The ball fell to Rooney after West Ham goalkeeper Joe Hart botched his clearance. The former England captain hit the ball first-time, striking it with his laces, and watched it float over the opposition defence and into the net, past the stranded Hart.
“I don’t think I’ve ever hit a ball better in my life,” Rooney said after the game about his goal, which completed his hat-trick.
It was an excellent goal, one of the best you’ll see this season. But it could also be argued that the reaction to it has been a little over the top. Listening to some pundits and commentators, you’d swear the ghost of George Best had floated on the pitch, dribbled around every player twice and scored with a scorpion-kick.
Yes, it was a great goal, but there’s a strong argument to make that it’s not even Rooney’s best goal – which has to be the overhead kick against Manchester City in 2011. On BT Sport, Robbie Savage screamed, “Give him the goal of the season now!”
The BT Sport commentator, Ian Darke, said it was, “one of the great Premier League goals in history.” He paused before he said, “in history”, just to emphasise the magnitude of what we had witnessed.
Two moments that highlight how right Man City were to let Joe Hart go https://t.co/yVe0G7TZOx
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 30, 2017
It was a technically brilliant strike, but it was also the third goal against an average West Ham team – managed by David Moyes. It was greatly aided by Hart, who kicked ball into Rooney’s path, after charging out of his penalty area and making a mess of the clearance. And Rooney had the freedom of the pitch to strike the ball.
A great goal? Definitely. But “one of the great goals” in Premier League history” seems to be an exaggeration.
In fact, it’s probably not even Everton’s best goal this season. That accolade has to belong to Gylfi Sigurdsson, who did this against Hajduk Split in the Europa League back in August.
Rooney was further out, but Sigurdsson was out wide, with players surrounding him, and the goalkeeper actually in his penalty area. To hit a volley at such an angle was stunning, and a lot more difficult to execute.
Rooney’s goal was great, but there has been a slight overreaction by many pundits, who can never miss an opportunity to praise the Everton forward. It was one of the best goals this season, but not the goal of the season, not Everton’s goal of the season and probably not “one of the great” Premier League goals of all time.
