Who else but Cristiano Ronaldo?
Cristiano Ronaldo set a Champions League record on Valentine’s Day. During their round of 16 first leg clash at home to Paris Saint-Germain, he became the first player to score 100 Champions League goals with a single team.
Toni Kroos got the set-up. He was hauled down by Giovani Lo Celso inside the box. The Argentine was on a yellow card. but the referee let him off without ending his night early. Instead, he pointed to the spot.
Ronaldo stepped up and coolly converted the penalty.
At first glance, it was a fairly unremarkable way to set a feat that impressive.
He picked his spot, hit it slightly to the left and got the goal. Nothing particularly impressive about that.
However, Michael Owen was one of the first people that noticed something odd about the goal. His initial thoughts were that it was either a double-hit or the turf somehow cause the ball to move as the Portuguese talisman struck it.
Or maybe the turf flicked the ball up. Checking the replays now but the ball definitely popped up.
— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) February 14, 2018
Sure enough, replays confirmed Owen’s second suspicion.
When he planted his foot just before striking it, the force caused the balls to pop up. The ball was mid-air when Ronaldo made contact with it.
Technically speaking, it was a volleyed penalty.
https://twitter.com/mxdric/status/963876488402620416
Fair play to Owen and all those eagle-eyed viewers at home that noticed it.