Premier League 2025-26 review: goals of the season

With most free-kicks, we’ve a decent idea where the taker can put them, which is why Dominik Szoboszlai’s effort against Arsenal, though it was a brilliant late winner, hasn’t been picked here: the execution, replete with whip and dip, was perfect, but we knew in advance that what turned out to be possible was possible. On the other hand, his goal against Manchester City – which edges Anton Stach’s for Leeds at Villa – was a mind-boggler. It’s fair to wonder why the wall contained only two men, but equally so to counter that he was so far out, the keeper wanted a decent view – and didn’t he get the perfect aspect. Hit with the laces, the ball jiggling, dipping and swerving at improbable angles, Gianluigi Donnarumma anticipated an inswinger then, when it turned out to be an outswinger, didn’t even get to attempt a save because, once it was clear which way the shot was actually going, it was far, far too late, a cursory step in the right direction all he had time for as an incredible, unsaveable effort shrieked past him and in off the post, three-quarters of the way up.

Where Szoboszlai’s goal was unforeseeable, Harrison Reed’s was unfeasible. With Fulham trailing Liverpool following Cody Gakpo’s 94th-minute apparent clincher, they won a throw deep inside the visitors’ half, the ball eventually fed back to Reed, 25 yards out, left of centre. Having only just come on, his first touch of the match was to control, taking the ball inside and into his stride as his teammates jostled about the box for the cross they were hoping to attack. Instead, he shaped to shoot – presumably to their consternation, as they multiplied distance from net, by the difficulty of the right-footed, inside-out finish he tried, by the finishing prowess that had brought him six goals in 191 league appearances. And then his entire corporeality catapulted into a glorious vaporiser that burned into the top corner of the top corner, Reed doing exactly what everyone knew he was trying to do in a way no one thought he possibly could, an xG of 0.04 somehow resulting in 1.0 of an absolutely ludicrous goal, matched only by the celebrations it precipitated.

Antoine Semenyo began his career at Bristol City, before loitering on loan at Bath City, Newport County and Sunderland. But then Bournemouth took a punt and developed him into one of the best widemen around, able to power forward with the ball, play on either flank, and shoot accurately with both feet. Inevitably, state wealth soon intervened, his putative move to Manchester City well-known and well-earned, such that when he took possession in the 96th minute of a game at home to Spurs – for whom João Palhinha had already scored a fantastic overhead kick – everyone knew this was his final act for the club that made him. Out wide, he found space then found David Brooks with a sharp, clever pass between two defenders, before wandering into more space. He then accepted a return pass near the left corner of the box, controlled, and measured a low shot that looked saveable but wasn’t, driving across the ball to apply just the right amount of fade and end a run of 11 winless games, a perfect finish delivering the perfect finish to his Bournemouth career.

“He needs to be calmer playing the game,” said Ruben Amorim of Patrick Dorgu in November. “You can feel the anxiety every time Patrick touches the ball. I can feel the anxiety.” Two months later, though, Amorim was gone, with Dorgu moved from left-back to left-wing. In his first game there, he delivered a terrific assist then, in his second, capped a fine performance with an excellent clinching goal as United beat City. After which came a trip to the Emirates and, with the scores level at 1-1, he had the confidence to take a line-breaking pass, punched into midfield by Lisandro Martínez, on the back foot. This allowed him to turn and twice combine with Bruno Fernandes, penetrating Arsenal’s midfield with his run then, as the ball bounced inconveniently high, he schlepped it from behind him and allowed it to bounce twice more before, under pressure and from a height that made a lash over the bar look inevitable, demateralised a shot high into the net, immediately adjacent to the top corner – left-footed, in off the bar, and bouncing back up into the roof to complete the aesthetic triple crown. Anyone know the Portuguese for “complete and utter repudiation”?

A beauty of football is its variety – there are so many players and so many variables that, though goals can be similar, all are different. Every now and again, though, we see one that is its own genre with no obvious analogue, and Alex Iwobi’s for Fulham against Spurs is one such. Taking possession 40 yards out, right-hand side, he advances, then snaps a pass infield, suddenly breaking into a sprint to accept the return, just outside the box. What he might do next is unclear, but what he does next is unimaginable – unless you happen to be him, and if you are, well played – wiping across the ball to caress a lightly curled side-footer that moves the wrong way, swinging in, not out and scooshing low into the far corner without touching the ground. We’ve been playing this game for almost two centuries now, so have explored most of what is possible, but no one has ever done anything quite like that.

Scoring goals hasn’t been as easy for Arsenal as it usually is for a champion side, Mikel Arteta using his budget for attacking options rather than elite quality. But though Leandro Trossard – an opportunistic acquisition made to bolster an ultimately failed title bid – isn’t quite good enough for a top-level side, he is plenty good enough to contribute crucial moments and, at West Ham, he did so in season-defining style. With the score goalless, seven minutes from time in a must-win match, Martin Ødegaard, on as sub, took the ball for a walk, found Declan Rice, collected the first-time return, jinked inside, and squared to Trossard, whose low instafinish earned the rare reward of a Gary Neville goalgasm. And rightly so: though there was a major twist to come, this was the moment and the game when Arsenal knew even they couldn’t Arsenal up a first title in 22 years.