Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice’s impressive two goals from free-kicks against Real Madrid in the Champions League have sparked debate over which shot was more impressive. Former West Ham and England goalkeeper Rob Green believes the second goal, which flew into the top right-hand corner, was the better of the two.
The first goal, curled around the wall and past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, had an xG value of 0.037 (3.7%), while the second goal carried an expected shot on target of 0.97, making it nearly impossible to save. Green said both goals were “impossible to save,” but he thinks the second one was more perfect, bending around Courtois with ease.
The walls in front of Real Madrid’s goal did little to stop Rice’s shots, and Green believes they would have needed to make significant changes to prevent either goal from being scored. In fact, Green thinks the recent “draught excluder” tactic, where a player lies behind the wall to prevent the ball going underneath it, has made defending free-kicks harder for attackers.
Rice’s impressive display has sparked questions over why fewer players are scoring goals from direct free-kicks in football now. Statistics show a decline in the number of goals scored from dead balls since 2003-04, and Green believes this is partly due to the increased use of this tactic.
The former goalkeeper praised Rice for his skill, saying “it was just a pure strike, just a thing of absolute perfection and totally unstoppable no matter what the wall is doing.” With Arsenal’s free-kick specialists Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard struggling to replicate Rice’s success, it remains to be seen whether the midfielder will continue to excel in this area.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/ckg22y9rz96o