The Puskás Award nominees are out and once again they have caused considerable debate and controversy online, with several sizzling strikes missing out. Lionel Messi is the biggest name nominated, not for his corking free-kick against Liverpool but for his sumptuous chip against Real Betis and alongside him Zlatan Ibrahimović and Andros Townsend have also made the ten-person shortlist.
Townsend stunned the Etihad with his volley in Crystal Palace’s away win at Manchester City and Zlatan shocked America with one of his trademark Judo-kicks. But which goals from the Football League have been overlooked for this award and should be nominated at the very least?
Mason Bennett (Derby County v Wigan)
Mason Bennett? More like Gordon Bennett! What strike this is. The acrobatics! The flawless finish! The impossible angle! All of those factors make this goal one of the best of the season and the added sass from Derby in the following tweet makes it even sweeter.
John McGinn (Aston Villa v Sheffield Wednesday)
Have FIFA even heard of the Championship? You’d have thought not given the lack of goals from England’s second tier but this one was hit as sweet as a nut and even beat Bennett’s strike to the Goal of the Season award. This one is something you just have to watch over and over again. What a hit son, what a hit.
Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday v Norwich)
This game was an absolute barnstormer with the Owls eventually coming away from Carrow Road with a point thanks to a dubious handball goal by Steven Fletcher. But we aren’t here to focus on that goal, but Wednesday’s first, which was an absolute rocket by Fernando Forestieri, when it looked as if the chance to shoot was gone.
This is the sweetest strike of a football you will see and nestled in the top corner with aplomb. Wonderful.
Tom Eaves (Gillingham v Portsmouth)
Tom Eaves moved from Gillingham to Hull this summer but last season he was tearing things up for the Gills in League One. He scored 21 goals in 43 league games last term and without a doubt the best of the lot was an acrobatic effort at Fratton Park.
Away to Portsmouth, one of the best sides in the league, he plucked the ball out of the air and turned, before volleying past a helpless goalkeeper. Incredible.
Hiram Boateng (Exeter v Port Vale)
Just three touches of the ball, each one somehow better than the last saw Hiram Boateng of Exeter crash the ball into the back of the Port Vale net in a goal which had everything. It was similar to the one we have just seen from Tom Eaves but the finish was from much further out which makes this one just that little bit more special.
Ooft.