Now that the season is over, it’s only right to take a look back with fond memories at some of the best moments.
The Rossoneri scored 63 goals this season, but it must be remembered that the less-than-goal-a-game first half pace they set means that 63 is actually a pretty good return, with 35 coming in the 12 Serie A games played after lockdown.
Before we start, honourable mentions go to Ante Rebic’s goal against Udinese (the first one, a fantastic team goal), Theo Hernandez’s run and strike against SPAL in the Coppa Italia and Ibrahimovic’s disallowed solo effort vs. Fiorentina, plus his thunderbolt against Cagliari.
Here, we pick out the five best goals of the season and analyse each…
5. Calhanoglu vs. Lecce
This is an absolute beauty from Hakan Calhanoglu, for a number of reasons. First of all the ball around the defence must be appreciated, as it lands perfectly within reach of the Turkey international, who makes no mistake in bringing the ball under his control with a fantastic touch.
Then comes the audacity. Not only is Calhanoglu facing the wrong way when he decides to fire at all, but he strikes the ball with his right boot while off balance and spinning at the same time, yet gets enough venom behind it to take it past Gabriel in the Lecce goal from an almost impossible angle.
4. Calhanoglu vs. Atalanta
He shoots here. No honestly, it’s a shot. It might look like a cross at first glance, but if you watch closely Calhanoglu never takes his eyes off that far right corner.
He looks down at the ball and up at the post almost how a rugby kicker assesses a 60-yard conversion. Hakan though knew that he had to hit the postage stamp in order to not look like an idiot, and that’s exactly what he did.
He wraps his right foot around the ball perfectly to create two things that goalkeepers hate: swerve and dip. It’s almost a knuckleball in truth, and Gollini ends up getting nowhere near it, which seems incredible when you see that first angle. Take a bow.
3. Theo Hernandez vs. Udinese
Those who have played football know how hard it is to strike a first time volley with any connection, let alone to hit it sweetly, towards goal and perfectly placed into the corner.
It’s even harder when you are stood over 20 yards from the net and you aren’t expecting the ball to come your way. Theo Hernandez though? He doesn’t play by your rules.
It is hard to find a more technically delightful goal to watch than this, the way it perfectly cuts through the crowd of bodies and crashes inside the far right post is utter poetry. The crowd noise says it all.
2. Kessie vs. Udinese
There’s not an awful lot of value we can actually add to this, apart from mentioning how smart compact build-up play down the left is what draws the Parma players in, and when Kessie picks up the ball he sidles towards goal in a non-committal way that, again, draws players the right way.
Then, you just have to admire the strike in all its beauty. The lack of fans in the stadium has been a burden but for this goal it adds to everything, because of the sound of the ball off the boot, off the post and the rippling of the net. *Chefs kiss*
1. Leao vs. Fiorentina
If the other goals are shock and awe in terms of brute power, this one is a worthy winner because of utter finesse.
Rafael Leao spins fantastically at first to avoid the pressure from either side, shifting his body weight smartly to allow him to burst away once he gets a first touch on the ball.
Then, his head goes down and he begins to shuffle menacingly towards goal, evading a slide before flooring Milenkovic by rolling the ball onto his favoured left foot.
As if that wasn’t enough, he provided the calm and composed finish of an expert marksman. Incredible. Breathtaking.
kessie v udinese?