There is balance in everything. Aston Villa have been absolutely dreadful to watch this season. They only have one win, and sit at a dreary last place in the standings. (Also, if you're a USMNT fan, you've had to watch Guzan get pummeled with shots all year.) But somehow, this spectacular goal just might make up for it all.The goal comes in two equally magnificent parts: 1. The run, which sees Adama Traore loop a ball around a Sunderland defender and beat his man from the longer distance between two points. His relationship to the line of the ball is nearly a perfect sinusoidal curve that dips below and above for a fluid stride into a cross.Take a closer look below:
And then, of course, we have Carles Gil's volley, which is by all definitions one of the more impressive shots you can see. No, it isn't a high-flying bicycle kick, nor a Neymar flip-and-shoot—but it requires an unbelievable bit of skill to eye the ball, reach for it with the leg and body fully extended, and find a place for it in the back of the net.Look at how far he has to run off of his defender to get it. Though the cross looks like it came in a little too hot, it almost seems as if the cross were any closer, Gil wouldn't have the space and timing to rocket it in like he did. It's an absolute beauty.After a goal like this, maybe—in a huge upset for the latter half of the season—Aston Villa will take the title. Nah. Probably not. But that's a nice-ass goal.
Advertisement