Nemanja Matić may be long gone and his memory fading with every single impressive appearance from young Tiemoué Bakayoko, but if there is one thing we should remember from his second go-around at Chelsea other than the 12-month period when he was the best in the world at his position and all those near-post headed flicks from corners that we no longer seem to be running, it’s the absolute piledriver he unleashed most unexpectedly against Tottenham Hotspur in last year’s FA Cup semifinal.
Glorious.
It would be the final goal in Chelsea’s 4-2 victory on the day, and it is now one of the ten nominees for the 2017 Puskás Award, which is the annual award for the “best” goal scored last season as decided by FIFA’s panel of judges — this year, that panel consists of Henrik Larsson, Pedrag Mijatovic, Celia Sasic, Alan Shearer, and Abby Wambach. Those five do indeed know a thing or two about scoring goals.
Matić, for whom this is the second nomination, is up against some strong competition, including a couple goals from beyond the halfway line, some ridiculous wizardry, and even an overhead kick from a goalkeeper!