No Blue has hit a better belter at the Bridge than Oscar

 
20 September 2012

Was it the greatest goal ever scored by a Chelsea player at Stamford Bridge? You’d have to be about 110 to know but I can’t recall a better one than Oscar’s second against Juventus last night.

If more assiduous observers think they can prove otherwise, let them try. Great goals make for excellent debate, especially in the YouTube era.

An early morning trawl provided much pleasure, not least from the memory jogging sight of Michael Essien almost knocking Barcelona out of the Champions League in 2009. Frank Lampard tried to continue a vibrant move with a flick into the penalty area and his frustration when the ball bounced back off Yaya Toure’s backside soon turned to joy as Essien let fly on the volley, the use of his weaker left foot producing a dipping effect that rendered the shot unsaveable.

It would have been immortal had not Andres Iniesta contrived an almost equal drive in the dying seconds to deny Chelsea a place in the final against Manchester United.

Possibly more fondly remembered by those of a certain age was Peter Osgood’s classic volley — also with the left foot —against Arsenal 40 seasons ago, when an additional ingredient was his preliminary leap to win the ball with his head before striding forward to seize upon Steve Kember’s flick.

For almost infinite variety, a selection of Gianfranco Zola’s goals takes some beating but still I would vote for Oscar. Not since Dennis Bergkamp bamboozled Nikos Dabizas has there been a finer example of vision and technique letting the ball do the work than when the young Brazilian took Andrea Pirlo and a team-mate out of the match and his curling shot was equally majestic.

Comparisons with Kaka are inevitable. Poor, injury afflicted Kaka — and that’s why UEFA must come down like a ton of bricks on Leonardo Bonucci. Artists must be protected.

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