When it comes to Premier League goals from back in the day, we all have our personal favourites.
Obviously the objective right answer to ‘which is the greatest Premier League goal of all-time?’ is Paolo Di Canio’s scissor volley against Wimbledon, but it’s fine for you to hold other strikes close to your heart.
Football is a game of opinions after all, and we’re a broad church here at JOE – we’re happy to entertain your theories, even if they’re technically wrong.
That’s why, 15 years to the day since it happened, we’re ready to pay tribute to the most glorious hit-and-hope goal of all time, from Arsenal’s Thierry Henry.
Morning all. #OTD 15 years ago, @ThierryHenry did this. Was it his best @Arsenal goal?https://t.co/Cu0fFbAoyu
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 1, 2015
Teetering on that fine line between ‘he knows where the goal is’ and ‘he’s Thierry Henry, he can do whatever the f**k he wants’, this effort is made that much better for the fact that it came against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United at the height of the ABU era.
But it’s still a glorified version of Peter Kay’s ‘Ave it!’Â moment, even if it does sit comfortably above some of our other favourite flukes and mishits, like Dennis Bergkamp’s accidental turn against Newcastle and Wayne Rooney’s shinner in the Manchester Derby.
I'd accept an Arsenal bid for Yohan Cabaye of £15mn plus an admission Dennis Bergkamp's turn on Nikos Dabizas was a fluke. No less.
— Jonny Sharples (@JonnyGabriel) August 19, 2013
But seriously, do you really want the league’s self-proclaimed greatest ever goal to have been scored by a guy in a Dreamcast shirt? It’s not a good look.
Henry’s scored better. United have conceded better. But it’s still nice to watch, so let’s leave it at that.