By Chris Wright
In an attempt to buck up the Arsenal fans among our flock on this sour day of introspection and soul-searching, we thought we’d transport them back to a happier time – the day they successfully beat Burnley 3-0 in the fifth round of the FA Cup in March, 2009.
Who could forget?
It was wee Carlos Vela that got the Gunners up and running with a lovely chip after 25 minutes but it was the Mexican’s strike partner and skipper for the day, Eduardo, who stole the show with Arsenal’s second goal five minutes after half-time.
With Alex Song floating a high ball over to the far post, Eduardo, in typically slinky fashion, met it purely with the hind quarter of his left boot and wafted a superb gossamer-light volley back across Brian Jensen…
Arsenal at their picturesque best.
At the time, Eduardo had only just returned to the side following the gruesome broken leg he suffered against Birmingham in February of 2008 that sadly went on to rob him of his cut and thrust.
Indeed, there is a school of thought which suggests that if Eduardo hadn’t have had his ankle splintered so catastrophically, there’s a fairly good chance both he and Arsenal would have a few more winner’s medals in their respective collections by now – mainly due to his ability to finish like that (↑).
Oh well. Like seeing Arsenal’s name in the hat for the Champions League quarter-final draw, some things just aren’t meant to be.
A selection of other random great goals on Pies…
Patrick M’Boma (Gamba Osaka) vs Shonan Bellmare
Roberto Cabanas (New York Cosmos) vs Tulsa Roughnecks
Thierry Henry (Arsenal) vs SC Wiez
Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors) vs Corinthians
Hugo Almeida (Porto) vs Inter Milan
Paulo Wanchope (Costa Rica) vs Uruguay
Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) vs Fiorentina
Dimitar Berbatov (Leverkusen) vs Roma
Jari Litmanen (Finland) vs Norway
Keisuke Honda (Japan) vs Hong Kong
Robin van Persie (Arsenal) vs Blackburn
Ray Wilkins (England) vs Belgium
David Beckham (Man Utd) vs Birmingham
Marco Perez (Liechtenstein) vs Germany
Rory Delap (Southampton) vs Tottenham