Five Of The Best: Indirect Freekicks Scored From Inside The Penalty Area (Videos)

Chris Wright

17th, May 2017

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sunderland-arsenal-indirect-freekick

Tuesday night’s match at the Emirates saw one of football’s rarest phenomenons occur deep inside the Arsenal penalty area.

A minute or so into the second half, Petr Cech was forced to handle a shoddy back-pass from Nacho Monreal, thus giving Sunderland an indirect freekick inside the 18-yard box.

Of course, the Black Cats ended up blobbing it, but the results can certainly be spectacular when such set-pieces are dispatched emphatically – not that it tends to happen very often.

Here are but a few textbook examples of the close-range indirect freekick done right…

Lukas Podolski (Cologne) vs Schalke, 2006

Pure power from an acute angle, otherwise known as the ‘Poldi Special’…

Tito Vilanova (UE Lleida) vs Barcelona, 1998

Vilanova became the first ever player to score against a side managed by Jose Mourinho when he launched this direct free-kick up, over the wall and in off the underside of the crossbar.

Bonus points on offer for spotting Pep Guardiola in the wall…

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) vs Malaga, 2013

Proving that his freekick abilities aren’t just limited to honking shots into the defensive wall from 60 yards out…

Alan Shearer (England) vs Georgia, 1997

Scored during a World Cup qualifier, Sheringham provided the flourish; Shearer provided the pulverising finish…

Patrik Andersson (Bayern) vs Hamburg, 2001

Perhaps the most famous example of the medium, largely due to the fact that Andersson’s 94th-minute daisy-cutter against HSV snatched the 2000/2001 Bundesliga title out from under Schalke’s noses at the very death…

Scenes.