First article by a contributor, Sunderland and Rangers fan David Drewett looks at his top 10 goals he has seen in his years following football.
10) Maurice Edu vs Celtic
A last minute winner is always enjoyable, but one against your biggest rivals to effectively seal the league title must be about as good as it gets.
American international Maurice Edu wasn’t known for being particularly prolific during his time at Ibrox, but he’ll always be remembered for reacting quickest to an almighty goalmouth scramble and firing home from point blank range to put Rangers ten points clear at the top. It was far from the best goal from a technical point of view, but the context surrounding it means it’ll never be forgotten.
Rangers went on to win the league that year, their 53rd league title in total, and this goal was a huge factor in that.
9) Jermain Defoe vs Newcastle
Despite signing for the club in the twilight of his career and only staying for two-and-a-half years, Jermain Defoe has very much secured legend status at Sunderland, and this goal is what kickstarted that.
In his first Wear-Tyne Derby, Defoe found himself on the end of a Steven Fletcher flick-on, connecting with a sweet volley on his weaker left foot and firing beyond despairing Dutchman Tim Krul. The goal overwhelmed Defoe, who broke down in tears as he celebrated what proved to be the only goal of the game. He later admitted that he only hit it first time as he was extremely tired; lucky for Sunderland that he was!
8) Kemar Roofe vs Standard Liege
After signing for Rangers from Anderlecht the previous Summer, striker Kemar Roofe found himself back in Belgium for a Europa League tie against his former club’s domestic rivals Standard Liege.
After going 1-0 up thanks to a James Tavernier penalty, Standard pushed hard for an equaliser. A 93rd-minute corner seemed to be their last chance, before Kemar Roofe expertly picked up the ball and ran, relieving pressure on the Rangers defence and seemingly winning them the game.
He wasn’t satisfied with that though. After dribbling past three players, with a pitch like a slip’n’slide, Roofe thundered a 55-yard shot over the top of keeper Arnaud Bodart and into the back of the net.
It held the record for the longest range goal ever scored in the Europa League - for one week, until Omonia’s Jordi Gomez hit a free-kick from his own half against PSV.
7) Kieran Richardson vs Newcastle
Sunderland were without a derby win for eight years when Newcastle made the trip to the Stadium of Light back in 2008. This was the game, and the goal, that would change that.
Winger Richardson had signed from Manchester United a year earlier, and endeared himself to the Sunderland fans with some explosive performances for the Black Cats. It was this free-kick that got his name etched into Sunderland folklore, however.
Djibril Cisse opened the scoring in the game, before Magpies carthorse Shola Ameobi equalised ten minutes later. In the second-half, after a foul on El Hadji Diouf just outside the box, Richardson stepped up and thundered a free-kick past despairing keeper Shay Given before the Irishman even knew what was going on.
6) Ji Dong Won vs Man City
By New Year’s Day 2012, many Sunderland fans had begun to give up on Ji Dong Won. The South Korean striker was signed by Steve Bruce the previous summer, but some underwhelming performances had left him on the fringes of the first team just a few months after his arrival.
Ultimately, it didn’t work out in England for Ji, but he’ll always have this moment.
After matching City punch-for-punch for the 90 minutes, Sunderland broke away through midfielder Stephane Sessegnon. He played Ji through on goal, who expertly took it round City keeper Joe Hart and secured the three points with the last kick of the game.
5) Pedro Mendes vs Celtic
One of four scored by the Gers on the day, Spanish midfielder Pedro Mendes silenced Celtic Park with an absolute thunderbolt from 30 yards.
With Rangers already 2-1 up at the home of their fierce rivals, midfielder Steven Davis fooled just about every one when he elected not to put a corner into the box. Instead, he picked out Mendes, who unleashed a worldie shot which just about burst the net before Celtic keeper Artur Boruc had time to think.
Rangers went on to win 4-2 in a season where they won the league at a canter. This goal just about encapsulates that whole period of dominance for the blue half of Glasgow.
4) Joe Cole vs Sweden
The 2006 World Cup was the first I was old enough to properly get invested in. Optimism had dampened slightly after laborious wins over Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago, before we faced Sweden in the final group stage match. Enter Joe Cole.
Eight year old me thought it was probably the greatest goal of all time. From all of 30 yards, the then-Chelsea midfielder controlled an awkward ball on his chest and lashed home a volley past the despairing Swede in goal. For a brief moment, all that pre-tournament optimism came flooding back, as Cole brought us a moment of quality we knew the squad was capable of.
Unfortunately, it proved to be the tournament highlight for England, as we crashed out in the quarter-finals to a Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Portugal. We’ll always have this goal, though.
3) Nedum Onuoha vs Chelsea
When you talk about this match it just sounds totally made up. Steve Bruce’s Sunderland travelled to Stamford Bridge, a place where they’d lost 7-2, 5-0 and 7-0 in recent seasons. Two weeks prior, the Black Cats had been embarrassed 5-1 at the hands of Newcastle in the Wear-Tyne Derby, so morale was bound to be low. Chelsea had kept nine home clean sheets in a row, and Sunderland were without top scorer Darren Bent. The omens weren’t good.
Then Nedum Onuoha decided to turn into Lionel Messi for ten seconds.
The on loan Man City defender picked up the ball after Jordan Henderson’s cross was headed clear. Instead of passing it to one of our more skilful players, he decided to become one himself, skinning the whole of Chelsea’s usually-impenetrable backline and slotting beyond Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal. It was absolutely unbelievable and knocked Chelsea for six, as Sunderland added two more goals courtesy of Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck to seal a famous win.
2) Dennis Bergkamp vs Newcastle
Most of the goals on this list are here for sentimental or personal reasons. This one is here because it’s just brilliant.
We’ve all seen this goal in compilations and such. Dennis Bergkamp collects the ball with his back to goal, completely humiliates defender Nikos Dabizas and slots it into the corner of the goal. Words don’t do it justice, it’s without a doubt the greatest Premier League goal of all time for me. The fact that it was against Newcastle just makes it even sweeter.
1) Ian Porterfield vs Leeds
A goal sure to be on any Sunderland fan’s list, as it was to date the last goal that won us any major silverware.
Sunderland went into the game as massive underdogs to Don Revie’s all-conquering Leeds United, who boasted world class players such as Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner. No one gave Sunderland a hope, to the point pundits were discussing how many Leeds would win by, but we managed to find a way.
Scottish midfielder Ian Porterfield found the ball in front of him after a bit of a scramble, and he wasted no time in firing beyond the Leeds keeper and into the roof of the net. It proved to be the only goal as Sunderland held on for a 1-0 win (thanks largely to Jimmy Montgomery pulling off the greatest save of all time) and lifted their second FA Cup.
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