When we played good football: The Arsenal goals that blew our mind in the past years

Amidst all these performance issues we have continued to see in Arsenal, we can’t deny there have been times the club made us feel so good we could sing ‘come on you Gooners’ the whole match when watching them play. Truthfully, we haven’t had that in some years now and many of us will give anything to have those moments back but while we fight for it, let’s remember the good old days.

While tension in the club is up high, a lit bit of a ride down memory lane can help ease the tension and with the incredible goals players have scored while wearing our shirt, we have an arsenal of those incredible and mind-blowing moments to look back at.

Robin van Persie against Charlton in 2011

Gilberto had made a pass from Arsenal’s half to the midfield where the play was built up to the right down to Charlton’s end. The cross was made with Van Persie making a run right into the box then sending the ball flying right into the top right of Charlton’s goal post.

Now, the beautiful thing about this goal as I remember is how fast Van Persie had been, his decision making skill which was to not control the ball or let it touch the ground before lashing it through the keeper.

If he had controlled the ball or let it touch the ground before playing it, the four Charlton defenders lined up in the box would have been on him like an ant rushing sugar.

Andrey Arshavin again Barcelona in 2011

Arshavin had scored many beautiful goals for Arsenal but his goal against Barcelona in 2011 can pass for the best out of them all. Maybe because it had been the goal that sealed our victory against the Spanish giants but there as a beautiful touch to it right from the link-up play from the back.

The ball had been well distributed from a congested back to the midfield where it was sent forward for a run into Barcelona’s box. A pass then was sent to Arshavin who had freed himself and was running into the box.

For an Arsenal that doesn’t play shots back then, it was surprising to see Arshavin lash the ball right back into the net, watching it go past two Barcelona players and leaving the goalkeeper wondering where the ball went. It had been marvelous.

Jack Wilshere against Norwich City in 2013

Wilshere’s goal against Norwich City in 2013 has to be one of the moments I was most proud of Arsenal’s style of play as it saw a beautiful link-up play in Norwich’s end while the players were on the run chasing ghosts.

Only three Arsenal players had moved the ball after a pass came from the midfield and sneakily, Wilshere moved into the box after releasing a pass that was later sent to him in a one-two play style.

Tomáš Rosický against Tottenham in 2014

This is one of those wow moments that left us all screaming out our lungs. Tomáš Rosický’s goal in this match was a screamer.

He had released a pass to Van Persie who got marked out by two Spurs player in the right side of the pitch but the ball ended up bouncing back to Rosický and without hesitation, he had lashed at the ball, sending it coiling right into the far left side of Spurs’ goal post.

Aaron Ramsey against Galatasaray in 2014

Another screamer from one of ours in a time where we had realized that the tip-tap into the box doesn’t work all the time.

A corner kick had been played into a well defended Galatasaray box and it was cleared out right into Ramsey’s left foot where he sent the ball flying from a volley from about 15 yards away.

The goal had been magical.

Oliver Giroud against Crystal Palace in 2018

If we are leaving any goal out, this is never going to be one of them. So far, not so many goals beat it.

This goal won the Puskas Award, to show how amazing it had been. It was dubbed the Scorpion Kick. The Frenchman’s scorpion kick goal left many baffled, including the Crystal Palace defenders who were closest to him when he scored the goal.

It was a moment of magic from the Frenchman, who reached Alexis Sanchez’s head high cross, despite it being played behind him, with his acrobatic effort with his left foot crashing in off the bar and past Wayne Hennessey, who was left as stunned as many others inside the Emirates Stadium.

Conclusion

These are not all but personally, I feel these are some of the finest ones that we can look back to and always smile at how well we used to play. If for a consolation, we can still pride ourselves as a team that plays beautiful football if that counts for anything these days.