The Definitive Ranking of All of Pablo Zabaleta's Manchester City Goals
Pablo Zabaleta's celebration for the opening goal in Manchester City's 2-0 win over Watford on Wednesday was a sight to behold. The Argentinian ran towards the South Stand shouting with joy and grabbing the badge on his shirt after beating Heurelho Gomes—marking the first time the defender had scored for his club in just over two years.
Manager Pep Guardiola was in a jovial mood when speaking to reporters about the full-back ahead of Sunday's match with Arsenal: "We [have discovered] he's a top scorer now so he's going to play the winger from now on to try to help us to score goals because we have problems."
However, Zabaleta's tally of 11 strikes in eight-and-a-half seasons suggests he might not be the marksman the Catalan will be looking for.
Guardiola, though, recognises why the Argentinian is regarded as a legend at the club: "He's a guy who on the pitch is a competitor. [For] example, against Barcelona [he] was injured for two weeks and he arrived there on the day of the game and said, 'coach, if you need me, I'm there'…
"He's important on the pitch, of course, for his mentality and off the pitch as well. You can count on him. You can count on him, no matter the situation."
Football fans are happy whenever their team scores, of course, but there are some players they love to see finding the net more than others. For City's supporters, Zabaleta is one of those—he's not an infrequent scorer, but he's hardly prolific.
"Pablo Zabaleta scores his first goal for Man City in 736 days, dating back to 10th December, 2014 vs. Roma.
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 14, 2016"
We think he enjoyed that one. pic.twitter.com/14yiEM7mPG
He's seemingly a good-luck charm for his side when he slots the ball home, too. The majority—more than 90 per cent—of his efforts have come in matches City have won, a better rate than Sergio Aguero. The striker is down at 85 per cent, though he has found the net 140 times more than the full-back.
It's time for the definitive ranking of the defender's goals at City, taking into account the quality of the strike, its significance in the match and, perhaps the most important part of any strike, the celebration.
11. Manchester City 2-1 West Ham United, May 2011
This was the match of the unlikely goalscorer. First, Nigel De Jong had given City the lead—his first goal for the club since he'd joined in January 2009—and then Zabaleta extended the home side's advantage over West Ham United later in the first half.
This wasn't a classic goal, and it's bizarre that it went down in the Argentinian's tally given modern football's standards for awarding deflections as own goals, but it officially counted as the defender's third goal for the club.
He played the ball to David Silva on the right flank and drove into the box to receive the return. He slid it across the face of goal, where it may or may not have been going in, and Lars Jacobsen finished it off into his own net, via the crossbar.
10. Manchester City 2-0 Watford, December 2016
Zabaleta's latest strike for the club squeezes into the top 10 by virtue of it actually being scored by him, unlike the previous entry. However important the effort was in the context of the season—City really needed the victory having been embarrassed at Leicester—the goal wasn't pretty.
The full-back sensed the opportunity arising as play was developing down the left flank and took a chance to get into the box. When Kevin De Bruyne crossed over everybody, Zabaleta was unmarked and scuffed it into the net.
The badge-grabbing, fist-pumping celebration brought a tear to many a fan's eye.
9. Manchester City 3-0 Stoke City, January 2013
Throughout his time at City, Zabaleta has become adept at poaching a goal every now and then when he finds himself inside the box. He helped to develop a so-called "underlapping" run—that is, darting past his winger on the inside rather than the outside—and it often left him in the six-yard box as an option. That's where he was when the ball broke loose in the area against Stoke City on New Year's Day 2013.
The Argentinian made a run off James Milner inside the area and the Englishman drove a low cross towards his team-mates in the middle. Asmir Begovic blocked it, but Zabaleta was there to roll it home left-footed on the stroke of half-time.
8. Manchester City 3-1 West Bromwich Albion, April 2014
City were flagging in the title race behind league leaders Liverpool, following their defeat at Anfield and draw with Sunderland. But three minutes into their next fixture, Zabaleta stepped up to the plate and got the team going again. He opened the scoring against West Bromwich Albion with a beauty of a diving header, reacting first to a rebound after a save from Ben Foster.
City's second was added by Aguero and the third by Martin Demichelis, meaning three Argentinians had scored in the same Premier League game for the first time.
7. Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United, December 2012
This was the only goal Zabaleta scored where his side didn't go on to win the match, but it really shouldn't have come in defeat. Having been 2-0 down to their rivals Manchester United, City fought back to draw level—with the Argentinian equalising on 86 minutes—and if there were to be a winner, it seemed like it could only have been the home side.
It was an excellent drive from the full-back. A corner was cleared to the edge of the area, and Zabaleta, arriving late, connected with it and smashed an effort through a crowded box, past a stationary David De Gea. But for Robin Van Persie's deflected free-kick in stoppage time, it would have been remembered much more fondly by the home fans.
6. AS Roma 0-2 Manchester City, December 2014
It was a tense night in the Italian capital against AS Roma, as City had to secure at least a draw in order to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League. They were 1-0 up, thanks to a corker from Samir Nasri on the hour mark, but the visiting fans were understandably getting nervous as the minutes ticked down at the end of the game.
Zabaleta made the victory secure in the closing stages. The full-back had spent the match sprinting up and down the touchline, and as Nasri had possession inside the Roma area, he made a run inside to support the Frenchman. A swift pass into his feet made it a simple, rolled finish for the Argentinian.
He ran off towards the away fans, grabbing his shirt, kissing the badge and virtually crying his eyes out. It was up there as one of the best emotional goal celebrations in a City shirt.
5. Sunderland 1-4 Manchester City, December 2014
What better way to announce that your wife is expecting than with a goal celebration? Of course, traditionally, players hit the net and then run to the side of the pitch cradling their arms—but not Pablo Zabaleta.
Instead, after a neat one-two with Silva sent him clean through from the corner of the box and he'd chipped Costel Pantilimon to give City a 3-1 lead at Sunderland in 2014-15, the Argentinian grabbed the ball, stuffed it up his shirt to create a bump and started sucking his thumb.
He was worried he'd not score before his partner gave birth, though, according to the Manchester Evening News: "It was a bit special because I say to my wife hopefully I can score at least one goal in this nine months, she is five months pregnant already so I thought it's going to be hard because four months to go I need to score as soon as possible."
4. Stoke City 0-1 Manchester City, January 2013
The second goal from Zabaleta against Stoke that month, it saw City safely through into the fifth round of the FA Cup. It had been a tight match, but the visitors had dominated—and they earned their first victory at the Britannia Stadium since 1999.
The full-back started the move, winning a tackle in the right-back position, and as the play built up down the left flank, he jogged forward to the edge of the box. When the cross came in, he was in the perfect position to run on to it and drive it low and hard past Thomas Sorensen at the near post. It was the best move of the afternoon and, coming very late on, was enough for City to avoid a replay.
3. Manchester City 1-0 Wigan Athletic, January 2009
It was in this match against Wigan Athletic that Zabaleta proved he was one of the more reliable strikers of the ball if it fell to him on the edge of the box as he opened his account for his new club in his first season in Manchester.
Daniel Sturridge's cross was cleared as far as the full-back, and after taking a touch to control, he smashed a half-volley into the bottom corner of Chris Kirkland's goal, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.
He did well to finish—he had to take the shot earlier than he may have been comfortable with as he was quickly being closed down and got his foot over the top of it to avoid skying the effort over the bar.
2. Fulham 1-4 Manchester City, November 2010
Nearly two years after opening his account for City, Zabaleta notched up his second goal for the club—and it was even more impressive than his first. He may not have been a prolific scorer, but when he did find the net, he seemed to do it in style.
With City 1-0 up in a showdown with their former manager Mark Hughes and his new club Fulham, the Argentinian rifled in an effort from range to double their lead. Silva cut a low ball into the box, which was cleared to the edge of the area. There, the Argentinian smashed it into the top corner from 25 yards.
He ran off celebrating the strike looking like he had no idea what to do.
1. Manchester City 3-2 Queens Park Rangers, May 2012
It should have been so simple on the final day of the 2011-12 campaign. When Zabaleta ran off towards the corner of the East and the South Stand, screaming his head off and pumping his fists, he could have been forgiven for thinking he was the man who had just won the club their first title in 44 years.
Relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers should have been no match for City that season, especially with City having gone 1-0 up just before half-time.
The effort, which frankly should have been saved by Paddy Kenny, found the net after an absolute age in the air. It looped up from the goalkeeper's attempted save and, as the entire ground held its breath, clipped the post before dropping over the line. Everybody on the pitch had stopped, waiting to see what would happened, before the City players ran off towards the corner flag to celebrate with the fans.
Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero will go down in City folklore for their second-half stoppage-time goals, after Roberto Mancini's team found themselves 2-1 down in the closing stages of the match. Zabaleta later admitted he was worried that he'd scored one goal all season and it was going to come on the day they had blown the title.
All quotes were gathered first hand unless otherwise noted.
.jpg?w=480 "NFL Draft Football")
.jpg?w=600 "Fans React to Simpson Pick 😱")
.jpg?w=600 "McVay's Reaction to Ty Simpson Pick 😅")