When it comes to the great entertainers of world football, Manchester United fans have been lucky enough to have seen their fair share of these players playing for their own beloved Red Devils.
The likes of Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and now Wayne Rooney have absolutely lit up Old Trafford on more than one occasion in the past and that’s why it’s so much harder for the current generation of Red Devils fans to accept the transitional state they currently find their club in.
While Louis van Gaal has more than stabilised the club since the ill-fated reign of David Moyes, United still seem to have a soft underbelly while not invoking the same fear in the opposition that they did under the relentless tenure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Nowadays, the likes of Swansea City have proved a thorn that has gotten under the Red Devils’ skin while the midweek defeat to PSV Eindhoven was described by the BT Sport Europe commentators as being simply naive following huge sustained spells of possession for van Gaal’s men.
So with our resident Red Devils in a downbeat mood, also in part due to the horrific injury suffered by Luke Shaw in the week, we’re taking this moment to cheer United fans up by devising a list of the five most outrageous Manchester United goals of the last 10 years.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 most outrageous Manchester United goals from the past 10 years.
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Cristiano Ronaldo vs Portsmouth (H) – 2008
Outrageous is most definitely the word for this strike after Cristiano Ronaldo simply left Portsmouth goalkeeper David James without a cat in hell’s chance of ever getting a save onto it.
James – a Premier League veteran – was no mug between the sticks of course but any stopper in world football wouldn’t have been able to get a hand to the Portuguese’s scintillating free-kick that marked a changing in technique on how to effectively strike a dead ball.
Taking place in January 2008, Ronaldo was able to get a menacing swerve, whip and dip action onto the ball that rasped into the net as the whole footballing world sat up and tipped their hat to one of the Premier League’s greatest ever free-kicks.
Wayne Rooney vs Manchester City (H) – 2011
The world’s most cynical football fans will say he scuffed it but in the big Manchester derby against City in February 2011, Rooney scored the most outrageous bicycle kick that would be fitting of winning any game on the planet, let alone in a huge fixture such as this.
Meeting Nani’s cross with deadly accuracy and precision, Joe Hart could only look round in disbelief as Rooney wheeled away into the corner of Old Trafford while producing that now iconic celebration of being beamed up by a higher power.
One of the Premier League’s greatest ever strikes, United fans will never ever tire of seeing this goal hit the back of the Citizens’ net.
Dimitar Berbatov (2nd) vs Liverpool (H) – 2010
When he eventually departed Old Trafford, Dimitar Berbatov was ultimately considered not a flop but rather a player who somewhat threw away his Manchester United career.
That’ll take nothing away from the fact that on September 19th 2010, the Bulgarian enjoyed his best ever day in a Red Devils’ jersey, striking a noteworthy hat-trick against none other than United’s old foes from down the East Lancs Road, Liverpool.
With goals one and three being considered far more routine for the striker, his second strike was the standout goal, stunning the football out of the air from a Nani cross while bicycle kicking the ball over Jamie Carragher’s shoulder and into the back of Pepe Reina’s net.
Simply stunning!
Wayne Rooney vs Newcastle United (H) – 2005
Before the great Rooney bicycle kick of 2011 came the great Rooney 30-yard volley of 2005 against Newcastle United which just squeezes into this countdown not due to a lack of quality but due to how old it now is.
A baby faced Rooney immediately seized onto a header away from the Magpies’ goal by the Toon Army’s defence before absolutely rasping a perfectly executed drive up and beyond a despairing Shay Given.
We have to question, do we really see strikes like this nowadays?
It was quite simply an effective version of the previously popular John Smith’s famous ‘Ave It video featuring Peter Kay!
Paul Scholes vs Aston Villa (A) – 2006
We all knew about Paul Scholes’ prowess when striking the ball from distance but the ginger-haired maestro even surprised himself in December 2006 against Aston Villa at Villa Park when he rifled a 25-yard volley past a hapless Gabor Kiraly following a Villains clearance from a Ryan Giggs cross.
Connecting with the football as sweet as you could hope for, the ball cannoned into the net via hitting the woodwork, sending the United fans into overdrive and the rest of us left applauding our television sets!
