The ginger maestro turns 40 today and to celebrate JOE has paid homage with five of his best goals. He couldn’t tackle, but by God could he shoot.
Xavi has said that he was the best player in his position over the past twenty years while Thierry Henry believed Scholes – now working as an analyst for BT Sport – was the best player ever to have competed in the Premier League. High praise from two gifted opponents.
Critics will always point to his inability to tackle – the term ‘Scholes tackle’ is now in use for others with the same affliction – but it is his offensive work that has always set him apart.
Here are five of his best goals. Happy birthday to the Ginger Prince.
Bradford v Man. Utd, Premier League, 2000
Well where else were we going to start? One of the best goals the Premier League has ever witnessed, David Beckham found Scholes on the edge of the box before he unleashed a thundering volley to the back of the net.
Bradford were languishing near the bottom of the table and defending was not their forte, but there was very little they could do to prevent this gem of a goal.
http://youtu.be/L6BZbvTqMvw
Aston Villa v Man. Utd, Premier League, 2006
Fergie is of the opinion that this is the carrot-top’s finest strike and who are we to argue with the Scot? The Villa clearance landed nicely for the midfielder who launched his 25 yard thunderbolt.
The ball dipped and crashed in off the underside of the crossbar in another demonstration of pinpoint accuracy and technique.
Nothing Gabor Kiraly and his fetching jogging pants could do to stop the wonder strike.
Man. Utd v Barcelona, Champions League semi-final, 2006
The 2006 Champions League semi-final between United and Barca proved to be anti-climatic. It failed to live up to the billing and was decided by just one goal over the 180 minutes, but what a strike it was.
Picking up on a poor clearance, Scholes weighed up his options and went for broke. The stunning 25 yarder was enough to see United through and was all the more memorable for the man who missed the 1999 decider through suspension.
Man. Utd v Panathinaikos, Champions League group stage, 2000
Scholesy had a number of crackers at the turn of the millennium and he showed he could mix thunderbolts with deft finishes. This goal capped out a long passing sequence that had the Greeks chasing shadows.
Spotting the keeper marginally off his line, his pinpoint chip caught the net-minder out from 25 yards.
Newcastle v Man. Utd, Premier League, 2003
Okay,we kind of cheated here. The video shows his sublime hat-trick against the Magpies, but we think you will forgive us. His second was a typical rocket which in itself was a contender for the list, while the final goal was almost a tap-in, but the first was nothing short of sublime.
Evading a Newcastle challenge, he played a one-two with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before hitting a first-time shot on the run.
The Red Devils won 6-2 but it was all about one man at St. James’ Park.
