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So what makes a great goal? I know it seems a easy question but honestly, what makes a goal truly great? Is it the goal that keeps a side up or a lob from the half way line? The goal that drags a side back in to a game when they’re 2-0 or a last minute winner in injury time? Everyone has a different variation on what they judge to be a great goal or what the ingredients are that makes some goals stand out above all others.
Well, I’m going to give you my ten goals of the decade, which you may agree with, but probably won’t. Yet that’s one of the great things about football, we all have different opinions and views of the same incident. Hopefully you can view these goals without blinkers of your favourite team and simply judge them on the goal itself. OK, ready? Then we’ll begin.

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Goal Number Ten: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUXKtf1rdaY&amp;feature=PlayList&amp;p=4804DC0EC4C58613&amp;playnext=1&amp;playnext_from=PL&amp;index=10" target="_blank">Thierry Henry v Spurs </a>November 2002
Another North London derby, another Arsenal win but this for me is one of the best goals that this decade saw in the continuing battle between Arsenal and Tottenham. A wonderful solo run and finish saw Henry begin to show the form that was to torment defenders the length and breadth of Europe for the remainder of the decade. A truly great individual goal.
Goal Number Nine: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CqXlNpesnk" target="_blank">Dietmar Hamann v Portsmouth</a> March 2004
There looked nothing on when Michael Owen swung the ball back in from the left wing but Didi Hamann was running in to hit this strike beautifully from the edge of the box. One of those wonderful volleys that occur every now and again, I doubt Hamann has ever scored a goal better than this in his life.
Goal Number Eight: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPTm0vrX-LU" target="_blank">Shaun Bartlett v Leicester</a> April 2001
What a strike this was for Charlton Athletic. A wonderful cross field pass from Graeme Stuart that the South African Shaun Bartlett hit first time to fire it past the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner. A fabulous hit, set up by a fantastic pass.
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Goal Number Seven: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DNfgibZO5o" target="_blank">Dennis Bergkamp v Newcastle</a> March 2002
What a wonderful piece of skill this is. From Pires’ crossfield pass, Bergkamp flicks the ball one way and rolls around the defender the other and then slides it past Shay Given. A delightful bit of skill from the Dutch master.
Goal Number Six: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJeVaV2o-3k" target="_blank">Xabi Alonso v Newcastle November 2006</a>
Alonso seemed to be one of those players that could try and score from inside his own half more than most. This strike against Newcastle left Steve Harper scrambling to get back, but to no avail. Perhaps more impressive than the similar goal he scored against Luton Town in the F.A. Cup, it will live long in the memory for its precision from distance.
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Goal Number Five: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23-rL8jObqM&amp;translated=1" target="_blank">David Bentley v Arsenal</a> October 2008
Probably Bentley’s high point during his difficult spell at Tottenham, this wonderful hit saw him control the ball on his chest and volley the ball in to the Arsenal net from 50 yards out. A sublime strike that shows the quality he has, but he simply hasn’t delivered at White Hart Lane. The only benefit to Spurs would seem to be the consistent quality that Aaron Lennon now shows week in, week out since Bentley joined.
Goal Number Four: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH2Szm9Ert0" target="_blank">Wayne Rooney v Newcastle</a> April 2005
Everyone knows the power of Wayne Rooney but this goal shows it for me like no other. Like something from a video game, Rooney spanked the ball in midair at what seems 100mph. The only thing that surprised me was that it didn’t burst the net. A wonder goal from a player that on his day is unplayable.
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Goal Number Three: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IACkXEs0d9s" target="_blank">Glen Johnson v Hull City October 2008</a>
Well, it is always special when a full back scores a screamer, Stuart Pearce built a career on smashing the ball in the back of the net, but this was a fantastic strike from Johnson. It impressed me, because he runs on to the ball, controls it with two defenders closing in and smashes it home with his left foot. An outstanding goal.
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Goal Number Two: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUh-NcHi5ug" target="_blank">Paolo Di Canio v Wimbledon April 2000</a>
Now this goal summed up the genius of Di Canio in one swift moment. A flying volley that saw him use his left leg to propel him upward for a smashing volley with the right foot past Neil Sullivan, it was a divine finish from one of the Premiership’s most enigmatic players. A truly great goal.
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Goal Number One: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3HcdvHbtN4" target="_blank">Robin van Persie v Charlton September 2007</a>
This for me, is one of the best goals I’ve ever seen. A simply breathtaking goal that showed fantastic technique, athleticism and an eye for goal that Marco Van Basten would have been proud of. Everyone knows the qualities that van Persie offers the Gunners, but niggly injuries have held him back from showing the Arsenal faithful his full potency.
So there you have it, my favourite ten goals from the last decade of Premiership football. Leave me some comments, or memories of your favourite goals over the last ten years.

The 10 Best Premiership Goals Of The Noughties

The 10 Best Premiership Goals Of The Noughties - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" style="border: 0px initial initial" src="/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/gun__1256999931_rvpspurs.jpg" alt="gun__1256999931_rvpspurs]" width="510" height="250"></figure></div>Every summer sees rampant speculation that Barcelona will finally pull Cesc Fabregas away from Arsenal. &nbsp;In the lead up to Saturday’s North London Derby, even former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor once again fueled rumors by saying that if Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League, then Fabregas will be on his way to Catalunya come summer.
Ade’s comments speak to his confidence that his own Manchester City have what it takes to break in to the oligarchy at the top. &nbsp;Robbie Keane’s midweek comments, in which he claimed that Tottenham’s bench was stronger than Arsenal’s, show that he believes Spurs can challenge as well. &nbsp;But as Aston Villa can attest from last season, and Tottenham can attest from 2006: breaking into the top four is no mean feat, and it requires practically perfect concentration for a season that spans 10 months. &nbsp;In the day’s early kickoff, Arsenal hosted their most bitter foes in a match where the visitors were looking to prove their credentials for Europe’s top club competition.
Instead, what was on display yet again was Cesc Fabregas’s commitment to the Arsenal cause. &nbsp;Earlier in the season, he celebrated a goal by kissing his badge and pointing to the stands, as if to say once more that he is indeed an Arsenal player for the long term. &nbsp;Today, Fabregas collected a loose ball at the halfway line, beat two players, nutmegged Ledley King, and then coolly drilled the ball into the low near corner–in a manner that was&nbsp;reminiscent of Thierry Henry’s famous Bernabeu solo effort (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuCL2wvjOtU)&nbsp;–before jubilantly sprinting toward the stands in celebration. &nbsp;While Robin van Persie’s breakthrough goal gave Arsenal a slightly fortunate lead, the captain’s strike was both a literal goal that put the game beyond Spurs, and a figurative statement to fans and foes alike: that this team will go as far as Cesc Fabregas will take them.
Earlier in the season, Pat Dolan of Setanta Sports criticized Fabregas for not celebrating enthusiastically enough when he scored a late goal. &nbsp;While Dolan’s commentary is often prescient, in that case it seemed to be a bit of a reach. &nbsp;Fabregas is in the unfortunate position of having to constantly deny that he has designs on returning to Spain. &nbsp;He has said whenever asked that he would like to go back someday, but not in the near future. &nbsp;This is the sort of game that clearly demonstrates that his heart is with the Gunners–and he showed his fans exactly that with a spectacular effort against their fiercest rivals.
On top of the performance of Fabregas, it should be noted that Arsenal finally managed to keep a clean sheet and by all rights should have had more goals. &nbsp;Eduardo, a first half substitute for the injured Nicklas Bendtner (whose groin pull will be one of the few low points of the match), spurned three legitimate chances to score. &nbsp;Two of those chances were efforts that he ordinarily would make short work of, and the third was a header that he could easily have put to either side of Heurelho Gomes. &nbsp;Abou Diaby made a great run late on a corner, only to have the ball hit his shoulder instead of his head, and Ramsey and Fabregas had a fantastic opportunity right at the death to pile more misery on Spurs, but one would suspect that the injury to Sebastien Bassong and the three goal lead led to their weak concession of the ball.
All of this came on the heels of the late collapses at West Ham and AZ Alkmaar (excepting Liverpool in the Carling Cup because of the vastly different sides). &nbsp;What Arsene Wenger must do is use this victory, and all its positives, to push Arsenal onward and upward. &nbsp;If they can learn to keep a clean sheet and keep scoring three goals even when spurning five other clear chances, then the title race will surely have to include a North London team–and no, Robbie Keane, not Tottenham.

Cesc Fabregas Claims the Armband

Cesc Fabregas Claims the Armband - World Soccer Talk

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Cesc Fabregas Claims the Armband