In sport, there is nothing better than witnessing greatness. In football, that often comes in the way a player, or team, finds the back of the net.
And football’s greatest league has straight up given us some of the game’s greatest ever goals.
So we’ve whittled down to some of the best all time.
Whether it’s through a thunderous strike from a different suburb, or an intricate passing movement that involves every player and the coaching staff, or a sublime individual effort that cannot be replicated, greatness comes in all shapes and sizes.
For fans witnessing these moments, all they can do is lift their jaws from the floor, wipe their eyes to confirm it was real, applaud the effort, and talk about it for years to come.
The top 15 best ever goals in the Premier League
That’s the thing about such moments; they happen in an instant and live on forever in the minds and memories of those who witnessed them live, or even retrospectively.
There have been some wildly ridiculous goals throughout Premier League history.
We’ve ranked our best ever. To say it was a difficult task would be the undersell of the century.
15. Sofiane Boufal (Southampton) vs West Brom, 2017-18
Sofiane Boufal’s Premier League career was far from glittering. Arriving on the south coast from Lille for a then-club record fee, the Moroccan winger was unable to live up the heights. His goal against West Brom, when he collects the ball in his own half against West Brom with scores locked at 0-0 and goes the length of the pitch to score, is worth the fee on its own.
Having ridden some Allan Nyom physicality when he first collects possesion, Boufal’s dancing feet fools West Brom’s Craig Dawson enough for him to tackle the Cameroonian right-back instead of the Southampton winger. Brilliant.
14. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) vs Manchester City, 2011-12
There are few clashes more visceral than the Manchester Derby. In 2011-12, as the Mancunian guard looked to be changing, Manchester United’s greatest ever goalscorer, Wayne Rooney, remind the neighbours who is boss.
Nani’s significantly deflected right-wing cross wrong foots the City defence and causes Rooney to quickly alter his back post run. No drama for the Englishman, who meets the bending ball with a bicycle kick that was more shin than foot. Regardless, it was remarkable. Cue Old Trafford pandemonium.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the most iconic goal scored that season.
13. Papiss Cisse (Newcastle) vs Chelsea, 2011-12
Phwoah. That’s about the only appropriate reaction to this strike. A throw in is chested in the path of Papiss Cisse from a position where crossing is more acceptable than shooting. No one told Cisse that.
He hits it first time, with the outside of his boot, and the ball bends from practically the corner flag into the back of the net. It’s a goal made all the more unbelievable by the fact it beat Petr Cech, arguably the Premier League’s finest ever goalkeeper and the hero in that season’s Champions League final.
12. Dalian Atkinson (Aston Villa) vs Wimbledon, 1992-93
There’s something nostalgic about great Premier League goals relived through grainy footage. A Boufal goal 12 months before Boufal was born. Aston Villa’s Dalian Atkinson beats four physical Wimbledon challenges, storms into their half, and audaciously chips the ‘keeper from outside the area.
In celebration, he rightly marches over to the raucous away crowd and opens his arms, absorbing their adoration as his goal deserved.
11. Tony Yeboah (Leeds United) vs Liverpool, 1995-96
Like Giroud, Tony Yeboah wasn’t a great goalscorer but my God wasn’t he a scorer of great goals. So skilled at executing volleys he may as well have trademarked the skill.
Against Liverpool here, an edge-of-the-box header moves in his direction. Normally, footballers would take a touch here. Not Tony. That’s not his style. His connection with the ball is so thunderous that, once it sails over the helpless Liverpool goalkeeper, it rattles the cross bar, crosses the line, then rebounds for a second crossbar attempt.
10. David Beckham (Manchester United) vs Wimbledon, 1996-97
It’s the goal that made the man. Prior to this strike, David Beckham was a pretty winger plodding away at Manchester United. After it, he was the man. It may just be the most recognisable of the Premier League’s greatest goals.
What’s noticeable is how casual Beckham is before he strikes it. The ball rolls to him, he looks up, assesses the field before him for a moment, and then launches it as cool as you like in the way an NFL quarterback throws a hail mary.
“I couldn’t have known it then, but that moment was the start of it all: the attention, the press coverage, the fame,” he later said.
9. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) vs Crystal Palace, 2016-17
While a prolific goalscorer by any stretch of the imagination, Olivier Giroud is a scorer of great goals. A running joke circulating the internet in recent years is that once Giroud shows his grandchildren his highlight reel, they’ll think he’s better than Pele.
His glorious scorpion kick against Crystal Palace perfectly encapsulates the Frenchman’s immense class. For a man of his size to have the presence of mind, and deftness of touch, to execute such a feat is remarkable. What should be equally celebrated was Giroud’s lung-busting run from deep to get into scoring position. Elite.
8. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) vs Watford, 2017-18
Defending Mohamed Salah should be simple. Show him on to his right foot. Watford did that, then they didn’t. They crowd the Egyptian as soon as he receives the ball in the box; six players plus the ‘keeper stand in his way. Quick feet and even quicker thinking sees Salah beat three before beating them all.
We can only image the frustration flooding the final defenders mind as he slid to block what he though would be a shot. He was showing Salah onto his right foot, until he slid passed and he was on his left, bending the ball into the back of the net and onto our list.
7. Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) vs Norwich City, 2013-14
Late-era Wenger-ball is responsible for some of the finest football the Premier League’s seen since 2010. A nimble, technical side capable of slicing through opponents like a hot knife through butter, but who lacked the steel and grit needed for success.
Jack Wilshere might be the perfect example of this Arsenal era. This sublime team goal, finished off by the England man, might be the personification of this era. Santi Cazorla drives in between the Norwich lines, offloads to Wishere, back to Cazorla, who finds Giroud.
The Frenchman and Wilshere combine for the greatest one-two in Premier League history, produced through deft flicks and silky touches before being ended by a comfortable Wilshere side-footed finish. Bravo.
6. Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) vs Everton, 2023-24
His reaction says it all. Two minutes into what promised to be a fiery affair against Everton, at the end of a week where the Toffees received the harshest punishment in Premier League history, Garnacho silenced Goodison.
Diogo Dalot fires a powerful cross destined for row Z. That was before it was plucked from the Merseyside sky by a young Argentine winger and hammered into the top corner. Undoubtedly deserving of a spot on this list.
5. Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal) vs Newcastle, 1996-97
Fluke? No fluke? It’s a debate that will rage for centuries. What cannot be argued is this goals brilliance. He starts on one side of the defender and ends on the other side, without breaking a sweat or looking flustered. Bamboozled might be the best description of it all.
Nikos Dabizas, the Newcastle defender left in a spin by Arsenal’s brilliant Dutchman’s movements, is still dizzy.
4. Rod Wallace (Leeds United) vs Tottenham Hotspur, 1993-94
One of the most under appreciated goals in Premier League history. Perhaps this is because the scorer is not one of the competition’s greatest ever players.
Rod Wallace is flirting so hard with the touchline that half his body is out of bounds. He doesn’t let this stop him, bursting between three helpless Spurs defenders, driving towards the box, and bending one in at the back post.
3. Tony Yeboah (Leeds United) vs Wimbledon, 1995-96
That man, again. A scorer of great goals scoring arguably his greatest ever here. The build-up is proper 1990s English football. Long balls, knock downs, poor clearances, and enough headers to scare Bennet Omalu.
At the end of the all, some quality. Tony Yeboah, having the season of his life, chests a weak-headed clearance, controls it on his knee, pushes passed one defender, and rifles a shot that rattles the crossbar twice.
2. Pajtim Kasami (Fulham) vs Crystal Palace, 2013-14
Probably unfortunate to not claim top spot. Pajtim Kasami’s name will forever be etched in Premier League history. An absolutely hoofing long ball finds the Swiss midfielders darting run between Crystal Palace defenders and his chested touch takes him beyond them into the box.
From here, he’d have been forgiven if he’d controlled it and waited for help. But we thank the football gods every day he didn’t. For whatever reason, Kasami decides to rifle a vicious volley from a ridiculous angle beyond a hapless Julian Speroni.
1. Paolo Di Canio (West Ham) vs Wimbledon, 1999-2000
Had this goal been scored by Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona, it would be placed on the wall of football’s greatest ever goals. That it wasn’t makes it all the more better. Paolo Di Canio was a maverick, and a very good player.
Trevor Sinclair arrows a ball towards Di Canio, who’s lurking beyond the Wimbledon back post. As its trajectory nears the Italian, and its flight appears more favourable for striking, he kicks both feet upwards, like he’s running through thin air, and fires a right-footed shot into the back of the net from the tightest of angles.
“That is just sensational!” Indeed it was. Di Canio’s strike is without a doubt the Premier League’s best ever goal.
