Manchester City advanced to the fifth round of the 2022/23 FA Cup at the expense of Arsenal.
The top two in the Premier League went toe-to-toe at the Etihad Stadium on Friday night, although the match didn’t really live up to the hype.
From a game bereft of clear cut chances and fast-paced action, City emerged with a 1-0 victory thanks to Nathan Ake’s second half goal.
The Dutch defender’s finish from inside the box was ice-cold. Even goal machine Erling Braut Haaland would have been proud of it.
It was actually a rare quiet evening for Haaland in front of goal, with Arsenal’s defence marshalling the Norwegian colossus pretty well throughout.
The closest the former Borussia Dortmund striker came to scoring was early in the first half and if the effort had gone in, we’d be talking about one of the great FA Cup goals.
After a crucial intervention from Matt Turner following some suspect defending from Rob Holding, Haaland was presented with a chance to strike the ball from just outside the area.
And in a split second, the Premier League’s leading scorer decided to try and mimic Zlatan Ibrahimovic‘s iconic bicycle-kick goal for Sweden against England in November of 2012.
Unfortunately for Haaland, Takehiro Tomiyasu was on hand to thwart him and he couldn’t have been any calmer while doing it…
Just imagine ðŸ’😂@ErlingHaaland with the acrobatics 🚲#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/ONd5dxBCo8
Unlucky, Erling.
But it seems only the footballing legend of Zlatan is capable of pulling the audacious move off – and he actually did so from even further out than Haaland was against Arsenal.
Okay, let’s relive the bonkers goal just one more time, because it would so, so rude not too…
That’s how you do it, Erling! Will we ever tire of watching footage of the goal? No, no we won’t.
Zlatan’s overhead masterpiece against England was his fourth goal in an eventual 4-2 win for Sweden.
The Three Lions’ goals were scored by Danny Welbeck and Steven Caulker, with a whole host of players making their debuts.
Caulker, Leon Osman, Raheem Sterling, Ryan Shawcross, Carl Jenkinson and Wilfried Zaha all earned their first England caps.
And the reason why Zaha is now allowed to represent Ivory Coast is because the hugely entertaining match was an international friendly.
You can find all of the latest football news and rumours right here.
Danny Ryan is a Senior Writer and Boxing Lead at GiveMeSport. He’s had the pleasure of interviewing the likes of Tyson Fury, Gary Lineker, Amir Khan, Lennox Lewis, Joe Root, David Haye, Frank Warren, Kell Brook & Joseph Parker. He once got Eoin Morgan to commentate on THAT Super Over and is an above average FIFA player.
© 2023 Sports New Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Check Also
What To Realize Approximately Alex Murdaugh’s Murder Trial
Alex Murdaugh’s circle of relatives long ruled the legal scene in his small South Carolina …