In some ways, you can almost see why some of those watching Jamie Vardy’s opener against Tottenham on Tuesday night might have thought it was accidental.
With Marc Albrighton receiving the ball on the touchline, Vardy darted into space between Eric Dier and Davinson Sánchez. Seeing this run – or perhaps just instinctively knowing it had been made – Albrighton lofted a pass over the Spurs backline and into Vardy’s path.
Vardy’s movement had been timed to perfection, and although the pass from Albrighton seemed on the money, its trajectory left the England striker with plenty to do as it dropped over his shoulder.
And this is perhaps where some start to doubt Vardy’s intent…
To most who have played the game – be it in a World Cup final, or on some waterlogged, trench foot-inducing Sunday League field – it simply wouldn’t have made sense to do anything other than attempt to control such a pass before firing off a shot at goal with a second or third touch.
Even the blurry image below makes it clear enough to see that if Vardy had managed to bring it down – by no means a straightforward task in itself – he would’ve been rewarded with ample space and time to pick his spot with Hugo Lloris still no more than a couple of yards from his goal line.
Trying to take on a shot first time – not just any shot, but a lobbed volley into the far corner of the goal – certainly wouldn’t have been the first idea that came to mind for many faced by such a situation, especially not when you factor in that the bloke in goal is rightly regarded as one of the world’s best goalkeepers.
This, however, is exactly what Vardy did. Stretching out a right leg, he guided the ball over the head of Lloris, who still appeared far too close to his goal line to fall victim to any kind of lob.
Off he raced, cupping his ear to the Spurs supporters in the away end.
Before the evening was out, many on social media – or at least the ones who weren’t claiming it was some kind of incredible fluke – were lauding it as a goal of the season contender. It’s easy to see why, too. Yes, Vardy’s execution was perfect, but the fact that he had both the presence of mind and sheer audacity to even attempt such a finish were almost equally as impressive.
This Vardy goal is outrageous https://t.co/3aRpoiBsrE
— Si Lloyd (@SmnLlyd5) November 28, 2017
It goes without saying that if this kind of goal had been scored by a Lionel Messi or a Cristiano Ronaldo, we’d have seen and heard much, much more about it in the time since. It’s also safe to assume that there wouldn’t have been any questions as to whether or not it was intentional, either.
