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Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho scored an acrobatic wonder goal in the Premier League on Sunday off a bicycle kick that revived memories of a similar strike by Wayne Rooney in a Manchester derby 12 years ago.
With his back to goal, the 19-year-old Garnacho met a deep cross from near the by-line by Diogo Dalot with a flying overhead kick that sent the ball beyond Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and into the top corner of the net at Goodison Park.
It came in the third minute of the match to give United a 1-0 lead and the team went on to win 3-0.
The goal silenced the Goodison Park crowd except for the travelling United supporters who loudly sang “Viva Garnacho”.
The goal had echoes of Rooney’s famous overhead kick against City in 2011 that secured a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
Garnacho looked astonished that he had pulled off the effort, which was slightly further away from goal than Rooney’s.
The Argentina international ran off to deliver a Cristiano Ronaldo-style pirouette celebration in front of Everton’s fans.
“I didn’t see how I scored, I just listened to the crowd and said ‘Oh my god,'” Garnacho told NBC.
“One of the best goals I’ve scored, I’m very happy.”
His manager, Erik Ten Hag, was quick to praise the strike.
“The season, still many games to play, but probably already the goal of the season,” Ten Hag told reporters. “It was incredible.”
“I can’t believe it,” former United captain Gary Neville said on the Sky Sports broadcast.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a stadium where I’ve seen an overhead kick as good as that — and I was there on the day that Rooney scored his in the Manchester Derby.”
Garnacho, perhaps thanks to his celebration, also attracted parallels to Ronaldo’s spectacular bicycle kick for Real Madrid in 2018.
But Ten Hag was uncomfortable comparing his teen star so quickly with two of the club’s biggest names of recent years.
“Don’t compare,” said the manager, who served a one-game suspension on Sunday and so was not on the touchline.
“I don’t think it’s right. They all have their own identity, but for Garnacho to go that way, he has to work very hard. And you have to do it on a consistent basis. And so far, he’s not.
“But he has definitely high potential to do some amazing things. It is not the first time we saw this. But if you want to be a player like Rooney or Ronaldo, you have to score 20, 25 goals in the Premier League and that’s not easy to get. But potential, he has.”
AP/Reuters
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