10 Best Golazos from World Football This Weekend
No Pirlo, no party.
Italian football's most famous maxim was proven once again over the weekend when the bearded genius scored a free-kick worth of inclusion in our golazo ranking. Andrea's dead ball finds its place among great strikes from elsewhere in Italy as well as France, England, Belgium, Germany, Australia and China.
Honourable mentions this week go to Memphis Depay for yet another great free-kick, Grimaldo's lovely set piece for Barcelona, Charlie Adam's excellent hit against Sunderland, Siem De Jong's well-placed volley and Luca Toni's proof that 37 is just a number.
And now, on with the ranking...
10. Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain) vs. Lille
1 of 10Paris Saint-Germain kept the pressure on Lyon at the top of the Ligue 1 table over the weekend with a 6-1 demolition of Lille.
Edinson Cavani managed four goals on Saturday afternoon, and the Uruguayan needed only four minutes to open his account with a cheeky chip over Lille's stranded keeper.
9. Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli) vs. Sampdoria
2 of 10Napoli's 4-2 win over Sampdoria on Sunday featured several excellent goals, including Luis Muriel's 89th-minute consolation.
The best strike, however, was Lorenzo Insigne's right-footed beauty that made it 3-1 in the 47th minute. The reverse angle shows a curve on the ball that gives the goalkeeper absolutely no chance.
8. Jeff Hendrick (Derby) vs. Millwall
3 of 10Millwall's quest to avoid the drop to League One appeared to have been given a boost when they led promotion-chasing Derby, 3-2, with six minutes to play in Saturday's game.
However, Derby's Jeff Hendrick quashed the Lions' hopes in the dying minutes with a beautifully struck volley into the top left corner.
7. Andrea Pirlo (Juventus) vs. Torino
4 of 10Torino ran out surprise 2-1 victors in the Turin derby on Sunday, but the Old Lady can take a quantum of solace from the beauty of their goal.
In the 35th minute, Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring in the most Andrea Pirlo way possible: a superb free-kick.
The Italian midfielder/artist nearly put Juve back in the game with another sensational dead ball that ricocheted off the post.
6. Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht) vs. Kortrijk
5 of 10Highly rated Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans showed the world why he is surrounded by hype with a wondergoal in Anderlecht's 5-1 victory over Kortrijk on Saturday.
The 17-year-old's first-time hit in the 42nd minute was absolutely unstoppable.
5. Christoph Hemlein (Arminia Bielefeld) vs. Rot-Weiss Erfurt
6 of 10Arminia Bielefeld sit atop the 3. Bundesliga after a comprehensive 4-0 victory at Erfurt on Saturday.
The goal of the game was Bielefeld's third, Christoph Hemlein's audacious 60-yard lob over the Erfurt keeper, who was clearly caught out doing some Manuel Neuer-style pressing.
4. Claudio Beauvue (Guingamp) vs. Caen
7 of 10Guingamp pulled off a 2-0 win at Caen on Saturday, thanks in part to an outrageous strike from Claudio Beauvue.
Four minutes into the second half, the 27-year-old made a run down the right flank before launching a 40-yard lob over the unsuspecting keeper.
The jury might be out on whether it was a deliberate shot, but the result was certainly stunning.
3. Mario Vrancic (Paderborn) vs. Werder Bremen
8 of 10The Bundesliga relegation dogfight is tighter than ever this season, and Paderborn are still in danger after their 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen on Sunday.
The scoring was opened in the 25th minute by Paderborn's Mario Vrancic, who volleyed in a Moritz Stoppelkamp corner in spectacular style.
2. Gio Moreno (Shanghai Shenhua) vs. Hangzhou
9 of 10Mario Vrancic's volley from a corner was good, but it's not quite the best of the weekend.
Colombian midfielder Gio Moreno opened the scoring for Shanghai Shenhua in their 2-0 win over Hangzhou on Saturday with a perfectly placed overhead kick directly from a corner. Oh, the audacity...
1. Tarek Elrich (Adelaide) vs. Melbourne City
10 of 10Australian A-League fans believe they may have witnessed a Puskas Award contender during Adelaide Utd's 4-1 win over Melbourne City on Saturday.
In the 33rd minute, Aussie midfielder Tarek Elrich picked up the ball deep in his own half on the left flank and proceeded to carve his way through the opposition before delicately placing the ball under the keeper.
It's the kind of goal that one usually would aspire to score with Leo Messi on a video game and undoubtedly a highlight of the 28-year-old midfielder's career.
