It was hardly the most consequential goal of his career, and it is unlikely to be classed as his best.
The opposition were Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria’s Parva Liga, and so with all due respect, that counts against its merit. Indeed, there are many factors that go towards assessing the ultimate worth and value of a strike on goal, and this one doesn’t tick half of them.
That said, Mesut Ozil’s winner at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in a needlessly complicated 3-2 win for the visitors will live long in the memory of anyone who was lucky enough to witness it either live or on television. In this special case, the competition, context and opposition are largely irrelevant.
Put simply, it was so staggeringly beautiful in its conception and execution that it did not belong in such a mediocre setting. Football is often called the ‘Beautiful Game’, mainly thanks to the ‘Jogo Bonito’ reference attributed to Pele. But we all know that’s a load of bollocks.
Pure aesthetics are not one of the sport’s main selling points. It is more often ugly, attritional, ill-fought and clumsy – and most of us wouldn’t have it any other way. Football may be the world’s favourite pastime, but for the most part it’s not even enjoyable – rather it’s gut-wrenching and maddening.
But very occasionally something beautiful happens. And precisely because it is like finding a shiny button in a mound of stinking shite, it makes that moment all the more precious. What Mesut Ozil gave Arsenal fans on Tuesday night was the heart-achingly divine keepsake.
It is up there with Chris Waddle’s audacious back-heel for Marseille against PSG, or Eric Cantona’s delicious chip against Sunderland, as one of the most needlessly gorgeous things you’ll ever witness in a football stadium. In fact, most of it’s beauty lies in how completely unnecessary it all was.
Football is overwhelmingly about doing the most efficient thing. Regardless of the particular system or style of play, whether it’s tiki-taka or long-ball, the principles of least resistance and maximum effectiveness apply. There is far too much pressure in the modern era to be fucking about.
But no one told Ozil. He fucked about and gloriously so. There was absolutely no need to elongate Bulgarian agony for quite as long as he did, but he did it anyway – mainly because he could. His shot could have come far earlier, and involved much less collateral damage, but where’s the fun in that?
As Arsene Wenger lamented: “To me it didn’t look like the optimal solution, but when the ball was in the net I thought it was…you wanted him to take maybe his chance earlier, but at the end he had enough skill to prove that he was right.”
Everything about the solo effort was sublime, from the instant control, to the deft flick over the keeper, to the painfully delayed execution of the finish. I count six, possibly seven touches in total, but the numerous and very subtle shifts in body shape and balance were the real killer.
So beautiful is the Vine length masterpiece that the goalkeeper and his would-be saviours seem like supporting actors taking part in a performance piece. Milan Borjan dives back on himself like a slow motion salmon in the most elegantly-wasted way, whilst both defenders slip in gloriously synchronised symmetry.
Everything is so perfect that it all demands repeat viewing, again and again and again. Ozil dances and shimmies like Fred Astaire at the Hacienda, whilst the Ludogorets players evaporate at his feet like salted slugs. It’s high art and car crash all at once – ballet meets the Keystone Cops.
Whether unfairly or not, Arsenal fans have something of a reputation of getting carried away at times. There’s a sense that they can indulge in more than a little hyperbole. In this instance at least, it is perfectly apt.
This goal was utter filth. https://t.co/3FB8kDnQNm
— Luke Walsh (@lukewalshdesign) November 1, 2016
This goal though…fair play Ozil 👏🏻
— Adam Boultwood (@adamboultwood) November 1, 2016
Oh Mesut…
We don’t think we'll ever tire of watching this (video courtesy of @btsportfootball)https://t.co/9vg2EgaZiy
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 2, 2016
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