If you’ve seen the Van Persie wonder goal (the first one here), you may not need it described for you. Matthew Syed describes it anyway (£):
When Wayne Rooney received the ball, he was more than 65 yards from goal. His team-mate, Robin van Persie, was one third of the way into the opposition half, guarded by two defenders. The idea that with two touches the ball would end up in the back of the Aston Villa net was not just fanciful; it was almost inconceivable.
But over the course of the next second and a half on Monday at Old Trafford, a number of things happened. First, Rooney spotted the position of Van Persie and computed the trajectory of a pass that could reach his Manchester United team-mate. The calculation was based on a critical assumption: that Van Persie would, at the precise moment of conception, begin to run towards the square foot of space, 20 yards farther up the pitch, at which Rooney was now aiming. In other words, Van Persie had to perfectly anticipate Rooney’s intention.
Half a second later, as if remotely connected to Rooney’s grey matter, Van Persie did indeed start a darting run. His acceleration was impressive, but the direction was decisive. He sprinted the first five yards sideways, parallel to the goal. It was an attempt to get up to speed while remaining onside. Then, the body swerve, as the Dutchman began the demented dash towards the edge of the box.
The goal itself was poetry. The ball travelled almost 50 yards, with a slight left to right arc, into the path of Van Persie. He didn’t need to break stride as he cocked back his trigger boot, only at the last moment glancing over his right shoulder to lock on to the precise trajectory of the ball as it fizzed downwards. The strike was plumb, the ball hitting the meat of Van Persie’s boot, and finding the corner of the goal, just inside the left post.
And in that moment, the United faithful knew two things. They had won the league for an unprecedented twentieth time. And they had witnessed another moment of beauty in the Theatre of Dreams.
Syed also has some words for those who think that sport is no more than oafs engaged in sweaty nonsense:
Van Persie and Rooney touched millions with that detonation of genius that capped a superlative season for United. But it also demonstrated an important and overlooked truth. When we watch the world’s top footballers, we are watching some of the most skilled individuals on the planet.