On This Day In 2006: ‘The Goal Of A Lifetime’ – Wenger Vaunts Van Persie’s Voluptuous Volley At The Valley

Martin Cloake

30th, September 2015

2 Comments

van-persie-volley-charlton1

Photo: Reuters

Early in the 2006/07 season the fixture calendar took Arsenal back to their south east London roots with a visit to the Valley, home of Charlton Athletic. It was to prove a very good day indeed for Mr Robin van Persie.

Just before half-time Van Persie scored to cancel out Darren Bent’s opener and then, four minutes after the restart, the Dutchman went one better – sending an absolute pearler flying into the Charlton net to put the Gunners 2-1 ahead.

Alex Hleb sent Emmanuel Eboue down the right and the Arsenal right-back sent a cross looping into the centre. Van Persie arrived at the edge of the area, galloped through a gap in the Charlton centre-backs and leapt into the air to crash a spectacular volley home past Scott Carson.

Arsene Wenger called it “the goal of a lifetime” in the immediate aftermath, and it’s really not hard to see why…

Stunning. It really does get better with age.

You can follow Martin Cloake on Twitter at @MartinCloake and find more about his books and writing at www.martincloake.com

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2 Comments

  1. up44 says:

    –Commentary translation–
    Hleb … Eboue has gone deep.
    Eboue … crosses it in straight away
    And there’s Van Persie with a stunning goal
    Good morning
    That’s proof of ability, alright
    Robin van Persie, directly, with left
    Still high in the air, that ball, but that’s not a problem for van Persie
    My, oh my, oh my…
    Eboue, crosses that ball
    You don’t expect anyone to be there
    And then suddenly van Persie with that volley
    What a delicious goal
    Yes… they better count that one

  2. en says:

    Best shin shot ever!

Leave a Reply to en